Skip to main content.
site logo and link to Texas Legislative Council home page
Texas Legislative Council
Special District Local Laws Code Project

Background information. Currently, the majority of local laws that govern individual special districts are not published anywhere outside of the volumes of legislative session laws, and these laws are not as readily accessible as the general laws printed in Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes. In addition, many of these local laws have been repeatedly amended over the years, which requires comparing the law as printed in several different session law volumes.

The Special District Local Laws Code project is the council's effort to have these local laws published and revised in the manner of the general laws, using the same numbering system employed in the other codes drafted by council attorneys.

The code is divided into titles by broad subject areas and subtitles by the general types of special districts governed by local laws. The subtitles are further divided into numbered chapters, with one chapter for each individual district. Chapters are divided into numbered sections--the number to the left of the decimal is the same as the number of the chapter in which the section is found. Gaps in chapter and section numbering are for later expansion of the code. Currently, the Special District Local Laws Code has six titles by subject, each having room for additional subtitles as they become necessary.

The code was adopted by the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, in a form that established the structure of the code with one or more chapters for each title and subtitle. The council anticipates filling the code with more revised chapters in this coming and later legislative sessions. Also, the code allows new local laws to be placed directly into the proper subtitles as new chapters.

Contact information. This project is under the direction of Mark Kuster (hospital districts), Kelly Lowe (municipal utilities districts and water districts other than conservations districts), and Pam Moore (groundwater conservation districts) of the council staff. Questions, comments, or suggestions may be directed to the appropriate person at P.O. Box 12128, Austin, Texas 78711, or at phone number (512) 463-1155.

79R Legislation. The following legislation relating to the portions of the Special District Local Laws Code proposed for nonsubstantive revision by the 79th Legislature passed in 2005 became effective April 1, 2007.

80R Legislation. The following legislation relating to the portions of the Special District Local Laws Code proposed for nonsubstantive revision by the 80th Legislature passed in 2007 and is effective April 1, 2009.

Code Project
Documents
  • Proposed Chapters for
        the 80th Legislature
  • 79th Revisor's report
         --chapters enacted by
         the 79th Legislature
  • 78th Revisor's report
         --preface
  • 78th Revisor's report
         --chapters enacted by
         the 78th Legislature

  • FYI
  • Review of proposed
         code chapters

  • Quick Links
  • Texas Legislature
         Online
  • Texas Statutes
  • This web page is published by the Texas Legislative Council and was last updated October 11, 2007.