Title LG, Local Government Code

Sec. 232.151. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies to a county that: (1) contains a municipality with a population of more than 500,000; (2) is adjacent to an international border; and (3) contains more than 30,000 acres of lots that have remained substantially undeveloped for …

Sec. 232.152. ADMINISTRATIVE DETERMINATION. (a) In addition to the authority granted under Section 232.045, a commissioners court may implement an expedited process to administratively determine that a platted lot is abandoned, unoccupied, and undeveloped if the lot: (1) has rema…

Sec. 232.153. PUBLIC HEARING. (a) Before a county may make an administrative determination that a platted lot is abandoned, unoccupied, and undeveloped, the county must: (1) hold a public hearing on the matter; and (2) make reasonable efforts to notify each owner and lienholder o…

Sec. 232.154. NOTICE OF HEARING. (a) The county shall: (1) provide notice of the hearing to each record owner of the applicable lot and to each holder of a recorded lien against the applicable lot by: (A) personal delivery; (B) certified mail with return receipt requested to the …

Sec. 232.155. JUDICIAL REVIEW. (a) Any owner or lienholder of record of a platted lot aggrieved by an order issued under Section 232.153 may file in a district court in the county in which the property is located a verified petition alleging that the decision is illegal, in whole…

Sec. 232.156. CIVIL ACTION FOR RECEIVERSHIP. (a) After a final determination that a platted lot is abandoned, unoccupied, and undeveloped, the county shall bring a civil action to have the lot placed in a receivership. On a final determination that a platted lot is abandoned, uno…

Sec. 232.157. AUTHORITY AND DUTY OF RECEIVER. (a) Unless inconsistent with this chapter or other law, the rules of equity govern all matters relating to the appointment, powers, duties, and liabilities of a receiver and to the powers of a court regarding a receiver. A receiver ap…

Sec. 232.158. SALE OF PROPERTY. (a) A sale under this subchapter must be made by: (1) public auction; (2) sealed bid; or (3) sealed proposal. (b) Before a sale may take place under this subchapter, the receiver must publish notice of the proposed sale before the 60th day before t…

Sec. 232.201. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: (1) "Board" means the Texas Water Development Board. (2) "Common promotional plan" means any plan or scheme of operation undertaken by a single subdivider or a group of subdividers acting in concert, either personally or through an a…

Sec. 232.202. APPLICABILITY. (a) This subchapter applies only to a county that borders: (1) the United Mexican States; and (2) the Gulf of Mexico. (b) This subchapter applies only to land that is subdivided into two or more lots of which at least one lot is less than five acres i…

Sec. 232.203. PLAT REQUIRED. (a) A subdivider of land must have a plat of the subdivision prepared if at least one of the lots of the subdivision is less than five acres. A commissioners court may require each subdivider of land to prepare a plat if none of the lots is less than …

Sec. 232.204. EXCEPTIONS TO PLAT REQUIREMENT. (a) A county may not require the owner of a tract of land located outside the limits of a municipality who divides the tract into two or more parts to have a plat of the subdivision prepared if: (1) the lots are sold to adjoining land…

Sec. 232.205. APPROVAL BY COUNTY REQUIRED. (a) A plat filed under Section 232.203 is not valid unless the commissioners court of the county in which the land is located approves the plat by an order entered in the minutes of the court. The commissioners court shall refuse to appr…

Sec. 232.206. DELEGATION OF APPROVAL RESPONSIBILITY. (a) The commissioners court of a county or the court's designee may delegate to one or more officers or employees of the county the ability to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove a plat that: (1) is amending a plat …

Sec. 232.207. SUBDIVISION REQUIREMENTS. By an order adopted and entered in the minutes of the commissioners court, and after a notice is published in English and Spanish in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, the commissioners court shall for each subdivision: (1) r…

Sec. 232.208. WATER AND SEWER SERVICE EXTENSION. (a) The commissioners court may extend, beyond the date specified on the plat or on the document attached to the plat, the date by which the water and sewer service facilities must be fully operable if the commissioners court finds…

Sec. 232.209. BOND REQUIREMENTS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), unless a person has completed the installation of all water and sewer service facilities required by this subchapter on the date that person applies for final approval of a plat under Section 232.205, the …

Sec. 232.210. CERTIFICATION REGARDING COMPLIANCE WITH PLAT REQUIREMENTS. (a) On the approval of a plat by the commissioners court, the commissioners court shall issue to the person applying for the approval a certificate stating that the plat has been reviewed and approved by the…

Sec. 232.211. CONNECTION OF UTILITIES. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c) or Section 232.221(c), a utility may not serve or connect any subdivided land with water or sewer services unless the utility receives a certificate issued by the commissioners court under Section 232…

Sec. 232.212. SUBDIVISION REGULATION; COUNTY AUTHORITY. (a) The commissioners court for each county shall adopt and enforce the model rules developed under Section 16.343, Water Code. (b) Except as provided by Section 16.350(d), Water Code, or Section 232.226 or 232.227 of this c…

Sec. 232.213. COUNTY INSPECTOR. (a) The commissioners court may impose a fee on a subdivider of property under this subchapter for an inspection of the property to ensure compliance with the subdivision regulations adopted under this subchapter, Section 16.343, Water Code, or oth…

Sec. 232.214. REQUIREMENTS PRIOR TO SALE OR LEASE. (a) A subdivider may not sell or lease land in a subdivision first platted or replatted after July 1, 1995, unless the subdivision plat is approved by the commissioners court in accordance with Section 232.205. (b) Not later than…

Sec. 232.215. NOTICE OF WATER AND WASTEWATER REQUIREMENTS BY POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS. (a) This section applies only to a county or other political subdivision located in the county that sells real property: (1) under Section 34.01, Tax Code; or (2) taken by virtue of a writ of exe…

Sec. 232.216. SERVICES PROVIDED BY SUBDIVIDER. A subdivider having an approved plat for a subdivision shall: (1) furnish a certified letter from the utility provider stating that water is available to the subdivision sufficient in quality and quantity to meet minimum state standa…

Sec. 232.217. ADVERTISING STANDARDS AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS BEFORE SALE; OFFENSE. (a) Brochures, publications, and advertising of any form relating to subdivided land: (1) may not contain any misrepresentation; and (2) except for a for-sale sign posted on the property that is no l…

Sec. 232.218. CONFLICT OF INTEREST; PENALTY. (a) In this section, "subdivided tract" means a tract of land, as a whole, that is subdivided into tracts or lots. The term does not mean an individual lot in a subdivided tract of land. (b) A person has an interest in a subdivided tra…

Sec. 232.219. CIVIL PENALTIES. (a) A subdivider or an agent of a subdivider may not cause, suffer, allow, or permit a lot to be sold in a subdivision if the subdivision has not been platted as required by this subchapter. (b) Notwithstanding any other remedy at law or equity, a s…

Sec. 232.220. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. (a) A subdivider commits an offense if the subdivider knowingly fails to file a plat required by this subchapter. An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor. (b) A subdivider who owns a subdivision commits an offense if the subdivi…

Sec. 232.221. ENFORCEMENT. (a) The attorney general, or the district attorney, criminal district attorney, county attorney with felony responsibilities, or county attorney of the county may take any action necessary in a court of competent jurisdiction on behalf of the state or o…

Sec. 232.222. SUIT BY PRIVATE PERSON IN ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED AREA. A person who has purchased or is purchasing a lot after July 1, 1995, in a subdivision for residential purposes that does not have water and sewer services as required by this subchapter and is located in an ec…

Sec. 232.223. CANCELLATION OF SUBDIVISION. (a) A subdivider of land may apply to the commissioners court to cancel all or part of the subdivision in the manner provided by Section 232.008 after notice and hearing as provided by this section. (b) A resident of a subdivision for wh…

Sec. 232.224. REPLATTING. (a) A subdivision plat must accurately reflect the subdivision as it develops. If there is any change, either by the intentional act of the subdivider or by the forces of nature, including changes in the size or dimension of lots or the direction or cond…

Sec. 232.225. REVISION OF PLAT. (a) A person who has subdivided land that is subject to the subdivision controls of the county in which the land is located may apply in writing to the commissioners court of the county for permission to revise the subdivision plat filed for record…

Sec. 232.226. VARIANCES FROM REPLATTING REQUIREMENTS. (a) On request of a subdivider or resident purchaser, the commissioners court may grant a delay or a variance from compliance with Section 232.224 as provided by this section. (b) The commissioners court may grant a delay of t…

Sec. 232.227. VARIANCES FROM PLATTING REQUIREMENTS. (a) On the request of a subdivider who created an unplatted subdivision or a resident purchaser of a lot in the subdivision, the commissioners court of a county may grant: (1) a delay or variance from compliance with the subdivi…

Sec. 232.228. AMENDING PLAT. The commissioners court may approve and issue an amending plat under this subchapter in the same manner, for the same purposes, and subject to the same related provisions as provided by Section 232.011. Added by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 526 (H.…

Sec. 232.229. APPLICABILITY OF INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS TO LOTS UNDEVELOPED FOR 25 YEARS OR MORE. (a) A commissioners court by order may implement a process: (1) applicable to a subdivision in which 50 percent or more of the lots are undeveloped or unoccupied on or after the 2…

Sec. 232.901. CERTAIN VALUE-BASED FEES AND DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION PROHIBITED. (a) This section applies only to an application, review, engineering, inspection, acceptance, administrative, or other fee imposed by a county related to the acceptance, review, or processing…

Sec. 233.001. REQUIRING REPAIR, REMOVAL, OR DEMOLITION OF BUILDING OR OTHER STRUCTURE. (a) If the commissioners court of a county that borders the Gulf of Mexico and is adjacent to a county with a population of more than 3.3 million finds that a bulkhead or other method of shorel…

Sec. 233.031. AUTHORITY LIMITED TO UNINCORPORATED AREAS; CONFLICT WITH MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY. (a) The authority under this subchapter to establish building and set-back lines applies only to areas outside the corporate limits of municipalities. (b) If the lines conflict with lines …

Sec. 233.032. POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSIONERS COURT. (a) If the commissioners court of a county determines that the general welfare will be promoted, the court may: (1) establish by order building or set-back lines on the public roads, including major highways and roads, in th…

Sec. 233.033. HEARING; ADOPTION OF LINES. (a) Before the establishment or change of building or set-back lines, the commissioners court must hold at least one public hearing on the establishment or change. The court shall publish notice of the time and place of the hearing in a n…

Sec. 233.034. NOTICE; LIMITATIONS PERIOD. (a) An owner of real property that fronts along a road that has a building or set-back line established under this subchapter is charged with notice of the building or set-back line order. (b) The commissioners court shall show in a gener…

Sec. 233.035. BOARD OF BUILDING LINE ADJUSTMENT. (a) The commissioners court may appoint a board of building line adjustment consisting of five freeholders of the county. Members must be appointed for staggered terms of two years, with two members' terms expiring in one year and …

Sec. 233.036. ENFORCEMENT. If a structure is erected, constructed, or reconstructed in violation of a building or set-back line established under this subchapter, the commissioners court, the district or county attorney, or an owner of real property in the county may institute an…

Sec. 233.037. APPEAL. (a) An owner of property who is aggrieved by an action or order adopted by the board of building line adjustment may appeal to the commissioners court. The person must bring the appeal within 30 days after the date the action or order was adopted. (b) A prop…