CHAPTER 6. PARTICULAR COUNTIES, LAW RELATING TO
VERNON'S CIVIL STATUTES
TITLE 116. ROADS, BRIDGES, AND FERRIES
CHAPTER 6. PARTICULAR COUNTIES, LAW RELATING TO
Art. 6812b. COUNTIES OF 198,000 TO 400,000 POPULATION.
Rules, Regulations, Plans and System
Sec. 1. In all counties in this State having a population of more
than one hundred and ninety-eight thousand (198,000) inhabitants,
and less than four hundred thousand (400,000) inhabitants
according to the last preceding Federal Census, and wherein is
situated an incorporated city having a population in excess of
two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) inhabitants according to
the last preceding Federal Census, the Commissioners Court of
such counties shall have full power and authority, and it shall
be its duty to adopt, at a meeting of said court of which the
county judge and at least three (3) of the county commissioners
of said counties shall be present and cause to be recorded in the
minutes of said court, and put into effect such rules,
regulations, plans and system for the maintenance, laying out,
opening, widening, draining, grading, constructing, building and
repairing of the public roads of said counties, other than the
State highways located therein, as the available funds of the
counties will permit so as to facilitate travel between the
communities thereof, subject to and in harmony with the duties of
the county engineer as herein specified. Where such rules,
regulations, plans and system have already been adopted by the
Commissioners Court of such counties and are of record, it shall
not be necessary to repeat the same in the absence of public
necessity therefor, but same may be amended and supplemented from
time to time as the public needs may require.
County Engineer
Sec. 2. The Commissioners Court of each such county shall appoint
a county engineer, but the selection shall be controlled by
considerations of skill and ability for the task; such engineer
may be selected at any regular meeting of the Commissioners
Court, or at any special meeting called for that purpose, and
such engineer shall hold his office for a period of two (2)
years, his term of office expiring concurrently with the terms of
other county officers, but may be removed at the pleasure of the
Commissioners Court. Such engineer shall receive a salary to be
fixed by the Commissioners Court not to exceed Ten Thousand
Dollars ($10,000) per year, to be paid out of the second-class
road and bridge fund; such engineer before entering upon the
discharge of his duties, shall take the oath of office prescribed
by law, and shall execute a bond in the sum of Fifteen Thousand
Dollars ($15,000), with a good and sufficient surety or sureties
thereon, payable to the county judge of said county and his
successors in office in trust, for the use and benefit of the
road and bridge fund of said county, to be approved by the court,
conditioned that such engineer will faithfully and efficiently
discharge and perform all of the duties required of him by law
and by the orders of said Commissioners Court and shall
faithfully and honestly and in due time, account for all the
money, property and materials placed in his custody.
Classification and Record of Roads
Sec. 3. The county engineer shall, under the direction of the
Commissioners Court, and as soon as practicable, classify all
public roads in such county, and such classification when
completed, and when approved by the court, shall become a part of
the permanent records, of roads and bridges, of said counties. He
shall prepare a suitable map on which shall be delineated in
appropriate colors the various roads which shall be designated as
first, second and third class roads; said map shall show to which
class each road belongs and the nature of its construction. He
shall make a complete indexed record of each county road in the
county, together with all bridges; said records shall show when
each county road was dedicated to the use of the public, a
complete description as to location, measured length, width of
right of way, character of construction and terminals of same.
Each road shall be indexed in said record by the same number and
name as it is delineated on said map. As new roads are opened and
improved, and the existing roads are widened or improved so as to
change their class, such facts shall be added to the record of
such roads in the "Records of Roads." Such information shall be
made available to the public; provided, however, that any
omission in respect to the above requirement shall not invalidate
any contract for the construction or repair of any road or
highway in said county, and where such classification, records
and indexes have heretofore been prepared there shall be no
necessity to repeat the same in the absence of public necessity
therefor, but same may be amended, added to or taken from as the
facts and public need may demand.
Inventory and Appraisal of Equipment; Disposal and Purchase
Sec. 4. The county engineer shall at the end of every three (3)
months, acting in conjunction with the county purchasing agent of
said county, make a complete inventory and appraisement of all
tools, machinery, equipment, materials, trucks, cars, and other
property owned by the second-class road and bridge fund, and
transmit the same in written form to the Commissioners Court and
the county auditor, which written report shall be kept as a
"Permanent Inventory Record" by the county auditor, and when any
of said tools, machinery, trucks, cars and other property and
equipment become unusable, the Commissioners Court shall enter an
order upon the minutes of the court, stating such facts and the
reason for disposing of such equipment and shall have authority
to dispose of same as it deems best. When in its opinion it is
necessary to purchase other machinery, supplies, tools and other
equipment and materials, the Commissioners Court shall enter an
order on the minutes showing the necessity therefor. All
equipment purchased or acquired as herein specified, shall be
shown on the "Permanent Inventory Record."
Employees
Sec. 5. The Commissioners Court shall employ all help necessary
for the discharge of their public service. Such employees shall
receive such compensation as may be fixed by the court, but in
all such cases an order shall be passed and entered on the
minutes of the court, showing in each case the public necessity
for such employment and the amount of compensation to be paid
each employee and the fund out of which it is to be paid.
Daily Time Sheet
Sec. 6. The engineer shall keep, or cause to be kept, in
duplicate a daily time sheet which shall show the amount of time
and the character of work performed and the place where the same
is performed by each person working for the county on road
maintenance or construction, and such other records in connection
therewith as the Commissioners Court and the county auditor may
require, one (1) copy of which shall be furnished the county
auditor, and one (1) copy shall be retained in the office of the
engineer.
Master Plan
Sec. 7. The county engineer shall, when funds are available and
when authorized by the Commissioners Court to do so, make a
careful and thorough survey of all roads at that time opened and
constructed with a view of determining what new roads and
connections of roads should be opened and constructed, as well as
what roads should be widened and improved. In making such survey,
he shall take into consideration the convenience of the traveling
public, and especially the convenience of the citizenship of the
county, so that each community or part of the county shall have
easy and practical connection with the other and with the State
highway system of roads in said county, thereby furnishing to the
citizenship of the county a convenient means of ingress and
egress into and out of every city and town, as well as every
other community in the county. The roads indicated in such
surveys to be opened and constructed, as well as existing roads
that are designated to be widened and improved, shall be located
and designated with a view of giving the entire county an
efficient road system. The Commissioners Court shall, in
selecting roads or new roads, as well as the improvement of
existing roads, look to the density of the population, the amount
of traffic that will normally flow over such roads. Such survey,
when completed by the engineer, and when adopted by the
Commissioners Court at a regular meeting thereof, shall be known
as the "Master Plan." When such "Master Plan" has been completed,
and adopted by the court as herein stipulated, the same shall be
made in permanent record form and kept by the county engineer,
and after such adoption, all new construction, widening and
permanent improvement shall be done in accordance with such
"Master Plan" with a view of ultimately completing the same, both
as to location and character of construction. The construction
and completion of said "Master Plan" shall proceed as the
available funds of the county will permit, and each unit of such
construction shall be made in accordance with such "Master Plan."
The order in which the roads or projects in the construction of
said "Master Plan" are constructed shall be determined by the
county engineer, with the approval of the Commissioners Court and
in determining the priority of roads or projects, the engineer
and court shall take into consideration the necessity and
convenience of the public and shall give priority to those roads
or projects that will result in the greatest service to the
greatest number of the citizenship of the county, looking at all
times to the entire county as a unit and wholly disregarding
precinct lines.
Adoption and Alteration of Master Plan
Sec. 8. The Commissioners Court shall, when said "Master Plan" is
submitted to them for adoption, or if after adoption an amendment
or change thereto shall be deemed advisable, set a date at a
regular meeting of the Commissioners Court called for that
purpose, and give public notice thereof at least two (2) weeks in
advance of such meeting and the purpose thereof, inviting the
citizenship of the county to be present and protest any part of
said "Master Plan" and also to make such suggestions as they deem
pertinent in connection with same, or any change therein, but the
decision of the Commissioners Court shall become and be final and
conclusive as to said "Master Plan", and no succeeding
Commissioners Court shall have the power or authority to alter
and/or change or amend any of the provisions thereof except by
unanimous vote of the Commissioners Court. Provided, that where
such "Master Plan" has once been adopted, there shall be no
necessity to repeat the same in absence of public necessity
therefor, but same may be amended and altered when public
necessity therefor is shown, and after notice is given as
hereinabove provided.
Subdivisions and Additions
Sec. 9. Many subdivisions and additions, for residential,
industrial and commercial purposes, lying and being outside the
corporate limits of any city, town or village, have in recent
years been platted and such plats and dedications approved by
Commissioners Courts and filed for record in such counties. And
many more such subdivisions will hereafter be prepared and
submitted to Commissioners Courts of said counties. The platting
and dedicating of such additions and the consequent sale of lots
in such subdivisions have caused the rapid development of such
subdivisions and consequent increase of traffic in, on and along
the dedicated streets in said additions and subdivisions, and it
shall be the duty of the county engineer and the Commissioners
Court to cause the "Master Plan" to be conformed to such needs
and demands of such subdivision by constructing adequate highways
leading from such subdivisions to the county seat, provided that
from and after the passage of this Act the Commissioners Court,
before approving the plat or plan of any subdivision lying
outside the corporate limits of any city, town or village, as
required by Article 6626 of the Revised Civil Statutes of the
State of Texas, 1925, as amended, shall require such subdivider
to enter into a written contract and agreement with the county
that such subdivider or dedicator will grade, and gravel, all
streets and provide all necessary drainage structures within such
tract of land so subdivided. Such street improvements and
drainage structures shall be in accordance with standard plans
and specifications prepared by the county engineer. Such contract
shall be for the benefit of any person or persons, firm or
corporation who may thereafter acquire by purchase or otherwise
any lot or lots in said addition or subdivision, and the faithful
performance of said contract as to the initial improvements of
said streets shall be deemed a part of the consideration paid for
said lot and be read into the contract of sale of same, and such
contract shall be enforceable at the instance, and suit if
necessary, of the owner or owners of any of said lot or lots in a
given subdivision suing singly or as a group or class. After such
initial street improvements have been completed in accordance
with such plans, said streets then become and remain a part of
the county road system and shall be maintained by the county
unless and until included within the corporate limits of some
city, town or village capable of maintaining its own streets.
Payment of Employees
Sec. 10. It shall be the duty of the county auditor to compute
the pay for all employees under the court's supervision from time
sheets furnished him by the engineer, and no check or warrant
shall be issued in favor of any such employee without the
approval of such auditor. It shall be the duty of said auditor to
see that no employee is paid for time not actually served by such
employees and to this end he shall have authority, and it is
hereby made his duty, at such time or times as he deems
advisable, to check any or all of such employees while they are
actually engaged in work. Nothing in this Act, however, shall be
construed as repealing or being in conflict with the provisions
of Article 2372g-1, Vernon's Revised Statutes of 1925.
Special Counsel
Sec. 11. The Commissioners Court shall have the authority to
employ special counsel, learned in the law, to advise the court
or the Commissioners thereof in all matters wherein the services
of counsel may be required, and also to conduct the litigation of
the county in which the interests of the county may be involved,
which employment may be made for such time and on such terms as
the Commissioners Court may deem proper and expedient.
Surveys, Plans and Specifications; Gradings; Drainage; Culverts
and Bridges
Sec. 12. Before actual construction shall have begun on any road
or highway so to be improved, the county engineer, under the
direction of the Commissioners Court, shall make careful and
accurate surveys of the roads and highways to be improved, and
shall file with the records of the courts plans and
specifications and estimates as to the cost thereof. Provided,
that the provisions of this Section shall not apply to work done
by county convicts. As far as practicable, all such roads shall
be thoroughly graded and drained, and all roadbeds, bridges,
culverts and drain pipes shall be of durable material, the
bridges to be of steel or cement and the drain pipes of vitrified
clay or of material equally durable and lasting. All culverts and
bridges on first and second-class roads shall not be less than
twenty-four (24) feet in length and of sufficient strength to
support all forms of motor traffic, and the weight of all farm
and road engines.
Acquisition of Land; Condemnation
Sec. 13. Whenever in the judgment of the Commissioners Court it
shall be or become necessary to lay out and construct any road or
highway in or through the county or any part thereof, whether
said road extends through any city, town, village, hamlet,
community or otherwise or whenever it shall be or become
necessary in the judgment of the Commissioners Court to occupy
any land, in town or county, for the purpose of constructing,
building, opening, widening, straightening, draining, grading,
improving, repairing or maintaining any public road or highway of
said counties or any part thereof, said court, through the agents
and employees of the county may enter upon, occupy and take such
land, paying therefor, if the owner thereof and said court can
agree on the price thereof, as to the value of the land so taken
and the amount of damage, if any there be to the remainder, but
if such owner and the Commissioners Court cannot agree with
respect to such value or damage or both, then said county may
proceed to condemn such land for any of the purposes hereinabove
mentioned in the same manner as now or may hereafter be
prescribed by law for condemnation by railroad corporations and
may condemn land for right of way under such proceeding with a
right to invoke the Statutes, in so far as the same may be
applicable for the exercise of the right of eminent domain by
railroad corporations except that, in no case, shall the county
be required to give bond or to deposit more than the amount
assessed by the Commissioners in condemnation; provided, however,
that nothing contained in this Section shall be held to repeal
the provisions of the General Law now in force or that may
hereafter be passed relating to the opening or construction of
public roads by a jury of view, but this Section shall be held to
be cumulative thereof, and the Commissioners Court of said county
may, at the option of said court, in such cases proceed under the
provisions of such General Law or under the provisions of this
Act according as same may be best adapted, in the judgment of
said Commissioners Court, to expedite the relief sought to be
obtained.
Drainage of Railroad Rights of Way
Sec. 14. Whenever it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction
of said Court that it is necessary for the better drainage of any
public road or roads within said county that the ditches along
the right of way of any railroad in the county should be emptied
and drained, said court may, by an order entered upon its minutes
at a regular or special term of the court, require any such
railway whose ditches or borrow pits are so constructed or so out
of repair as to impede the easy and rapid flow of water
accumulating on, along or near its right of way to the nearest
gully, ravine, creek, water course or outlet, and it shall be the
duty of said railway in reference to which said order is made and
entered within sixty (60) days after a certified copy of said
order shall have been delivered to any general officer of such
railway company or to any of its agents in said county to supply
proper and sufficient drainage in the premises and within sixty
(60) days thereafter to commence the work so ordered to be done
and to continue such work with reasonable dispatch until its
completion. In the event such railway company, its officers and
agents shall fail to commence work within sixty (60) days from
the date of service of a certified copy of such order, or having
begun shall fail to finish the same within a reasonable time, the
Commissioners Court may have such work performed, keeping an
accurate account of the money expended upon said work, and said
money so expended being reasonable in amount, may be recovered
from the railway company along whose right of way said work was
done at the suit of the county for the benefit of its road and
bridge fund in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Payment of Road Taxes; Overseers
Sec. 15. In such county the payment of road taxes by labor is
abolished and all provisions of laws concerning overseers shall
be of no further force or effect.
County Commissioners; Duties and Compensation
Sec. 16. Each member of the Commissioners Court shall be and he
is hereby required to devote all of his time (unless prevented by
illness) to the duties of his office, and shall be in attendance
at all sessions of the court. In addition thereto he shall
personally inspect the conditions of the roads and bridges of the
county, and shall see to it that employees under the control of
the Commissioners Court perform their full duties. Each member
shall receive an annual salary as provided by the General
Statutes of the State of Texas relating to the salaries of county
commissioners in counties having a population which conforms to
the population of the counties affected by this Act. Said
salaries to be paid out of the road and bridge fund of the
county.
Amount of Road and Bridge Tax
Sec. 17. It shall be unlawful for said Commissioners Court to
levy any road and bridge tax in excess of the maximum rate
prescribed by law, and any member of said court who shall vote
for such excessive levy, knowing it to be excessive, shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall
be punished by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars
($500).
Convict Labor
Sec. 18. Said court may require all county convicts of said
county, who may be physically able and not otherwise employed, to
work on the public roads of said county under such rules and
regulations as the court may prescribe, and each convict so
worked shall receive a credit of Three Dollars ($3) per day, one
half of which shall be as nearly as practicable, applied to the
fine, and one half to the court costs, provided that this shall
not be so construed as to relieve a convict from the payment of
all costs for which he would be liable under the General Laws of
this State; said court may, as a reward for good behavior and
faithful service, grant a reasonable commutation which shall in
no case exceed one-tenth (1/10) of the whole time. Said court may
provide all such houses, tents, clothing, bedding, food,
medicine, medical attention, supplies and guards as it may deem
necessary or proper for the safe and humane treatment and for the
safe-keeping of such county convicts. Said court may also provide
and enforce and such guards may, under the direction of said
court and in accordance with its rules and regulations,
administer such reasonable and humane punishment as may be
necessary to require such convicts to perform good work. Said
court may provide a reward, not exceeding Ten Dollars ($10) in
any instance, to be paid out of the road and bridge fund for the
capture and delivery of an escaped convict, but no such reward
shall be paid to any guard or persons in charge of or assisting
such convict at the time of his escape.
Bond Issues; Resolution; Election
Sec. 19. Whenever the Commissioners Court shall deem it necessary
or expedient to build, construct, improve, repair or maintain
first or second-class roads of a permanent nature with the
proceeds of the sale of bonds issued for road and bridge purposes
under the terms of this Act, said court, shall at any regular
meeting pass and record in its minutes a resolution setting forth
that it is the sense of said court that public roads and bridges
of a permanent nature should be built, constructed, improved,
repaired or maintained and that the county should issue its bonds
to raise money for that purpose in an amount to be named in such
resolution, and said resolution shall be submitted to the vote of
the property-owning, qualified voters of the county under the law
and the Constitution at any regular or special election which the
court may order for that purpose, and if at such election a
majority of the votes cast shall be for such resolution, then the
same shall be deemed to be adopted; otherwise it shall be deemed
to be rejected. Such election shall be governed in all respects
by the laws governing elections in this State, save that the time
for holding such elections, the manner and kind of notice shall
be fixed by the Commissioners Court, and the returns shall be
made and canvassed in the same manner and the result declared by
proclamation of the county judge, which proclamation shall be
posted in at least three (3) public places in the county, or at
the option of the court published one time in a daily newspaper
of general circulation in the county.
Qualifications of Voters; Ballots
Sec. 20. No person shall be permitted to vote at any election
provided for in the next preceding Section of this Act unless he
is a property owner, taxpayer, who has duly rendered his property
for taxation, and a qualified voter of the county under the law
and Constitution of Texas. Those desiring to vote for the
resolution shall have written or printed on their ballot the
words "FOR the Resolution to issue bonds to ____________" and
those desiring to vote against the resolution shall have written
or printed on their ballots the following: "AGAINST the
Resolution to issue bonds to ____________" (here insert such
purpose of the proposed bond issue as set forth in said
resolution). Such ballots shall be written or printed on plain
white paper with black ink and shall contain no distinguishing
mark or device except as above provided, and if printed, shall be
in type of uniform size and face.
Preparation and Execution of Bonds; Terms of Bonds; Registration
and Enrollment; Sale or Negotiation; Tax Levy
Sec. 21. If, at the election hereinabove provided for, a majority
of the property-owning qualified voters, under the Constitution
and Laws of the State, shall vote in favor of the resolution
hereinbefore provided for and the Commissioners Court shall have
canvassed the vote and declared the result, and proclamation
therefor has been made by the county judge or publication made in
lieu thereof, declaring said result, than it shall be the duty of
said court to prepare and execute the bonds of the county in such
sums as may be deemed advisable by the court, not exceeding the
amount authorized at the election, said bonds to bear interest at
not exceeding five per cent (5%) per annum, payable annually or
semi-annually as the courts shall direct, which bonds shall be
redeemable or payable not more than forty (40) years from date
thereof, and at such intermediate periods, serially or otherwise
as the court may direct, the time of maturity to be expressed on
the face of the bonds and such bonds shall be registered or
enrolled as in case of other county bonds, and the same shall not
be sold or negotiated at less than their par value; provided,
however, that the tax levy for the payment of interest and
principal on any issue of bonds under the terms of this Act shall
not exceed in any one case the sum of Fifteen Cents (15¢) on
the One Hundred Dollars ($100) property valuation, and the amount
of bonds so to be issued shall be limited accordingly; provided
further, that nothing in this language or in the terms of this
Act shall be held to impair the right of the county to issue
bonds under the provisions of Article 3 of Section 52 of the
State Constitution and the Statutes enacted pursuant thereof.
Levy of Tax; Use of Tax and Bond Proceeds
Sec. 22. At or prior to the issuance of said bonds, it shall be
the duty of said Commissioners Court to levy an annual ad valorem
tax on all property within the county liable to taxation,
sufficient to provide for the interest on such bonds and to
create a sinking fund for the payment of the principal thereof at
the maturity of same. Such tax and the levy thereof may vary or
lessen accordingly as assessed taxable values may increase or
diminish from year to year. The fund arising from such tax and
the levy thereof shall not be used for any other purpose than
that for which it was created, and the proceeds of the sale of
such bonds shall be confined strictly for the purpose of which
they were issued and for all necessary and incidental expense
incurred in the issuance and sale thereof. It shall be unlawful
for said court to transfer any money or fund from the road and
bridge fund to any other purpose, except as outlined in Section
15 of this Act, than the laying out, opening, widening, draining,
constructing, building, repairing and maintaining the public
roads of said counties and the incidental and necessary expense
growing out of the issuance of said bonds and the sale thereof.
Account and Disbursement of Bond Proceeds
Sec. 23. It shall be the duty of the county treasurer to keep a
separate account of all moneys received from the sale of bonds of
said county issued for road and bridge purposes, and said
treasurer shall pay out none of it except on written order or
warrant of said court, specifying the contract against which it
is drawn or for the purpose for which it is expended.
Contracts; Alternative Methods; Record of Cost
Sec. 24. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, no contract
requiring the expenditure of money derived from the sale of bonds
authorized by this Act shall be made until said county engineer
shall have made and filed with the Commissioners Court maps,
profiles, plans, specifications, and estimates of the work to be
done under such contract and not until said court shall have
considered the same and ordered it of record. Provided, however,
that in the event said court shall have advertised for and
rejected bids, it may in its discretion proceed to do the work
mentioned in said advertisement. In the expenditure of road funds
other than moneys derived from the sale of bonds, the
Commissioners Court may authorize the building, construction and
repair of roads by contract, day labor or convict labor as said
court may deem to be for the best interest of the county. In
every instance where the court chooses to do so under the terms
of this Act to build, improve, repair or maintain roads by having
the work done by the county, then the county must keep a careful
and accurate record of the cost of the work, provided the work
referred to in this Section shall be done under the direction of
the county engineer in harmony with the other provisions of this
Act.
Secs. 25, 26. Repealed by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 641, Sec. 11,
eff. Sept. 1, 1985.
Transfers to Road and Bridge Fund
Sec. 27. The Commissioners Court is authorized and empowered,
whenever and in such manner as it may determine, to transfer to
and make a part of the road and bridge fund of said county any
money now in the county, to pay interest and create a sinking
fund for any bonds of said county heretofore issued and which
have now been retired and cancelled. Such money so transferred to
the road and bridge fund may be expended by the Commissioners
Court at their discretion in constructing or repairing any of the
first-class or cross roads of the county, such expenditures to be
made in compliance with the provisions and requirements of this
Act.
Record of Vote on Expenditures
Sec. 28. The records of the Commissioners Court shall show in
detail every vote for expenditure of any of the funds mentioned
in this Act.
Shade Trees; Signboards or Signposts
Sec. 29. The Commissioners Court may, where funds are available
for that purpose, plant shade trees along the side of the public
roads; the Commissioners Court may protect all shade trees along
the side of said thoroughfares and erect, place and keep a
substantial signboard or signpost at every point where a public
road forks or is intersected by another public road and such
signboard or signpost shall contain a legible inscription
directing the way and giving the distance of the next important
place on such highway. Any person who shall willfully remove,
injure, deface or mutilate or injure the growth of any shade tree
along the side of a public road or any signboard or signpost
thereon or thereabouts shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor
and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less
than Twenty-five Dollars ($25) nor more than One Hundred Dollars
($100).
Financial Interest of Members of Commissioners Court; Violations
of Act
Sec. 30. It shall be unlawful for any member of the Commissioners
Court or for any county officer to be or become financially
interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract with said
county for road work or for the purchase or sale of any material
or supplies of any character or in any transaction whatsoever in
connection with any of the roads of said county, excepting only
his own salary, fees or per diem. If any such county commissioner
or such county officer shall willfully violate any of the
foregoing provisions of this Section, he shall be punished by a
fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500) nor more than
One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county
jail of said county for not more than one (1) year or by both
such fine and imprisonment and in addition thereto shall be
forthwith removed from office as provided for by General law. If
any member of said Commissioners Court or any such officer shall
willfully violate any of the other provisions of this Act, he
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction
thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than Five Hundred
Dollars ($500) or by imprisonment in the county jail of said
county for not more than six (6) months or by both such fine and
imprisonment.
Fines and Moneys Collected Applied to Road and Bridge Fund
Sec. 31. All fines for any and all violations of any of the
provisions of this Act and any and all moneys which may be
collected by or on behalf of said county on, under, or by virtue
of any contract which may be executed under the provisions of
this Act shall be applied to the road and bridge fund of said
county.
Definitions
Sec. 32. The terms "Road" and "Highway" as used in this Act shall
be held to include bridges, viaducts, causeways, culverts,
roadbeds, ditches, drains and every part of a road or highway as
such terms are commonly understood whether herein specified or
not.
Judicial Notice of Law
Sec. 33. This Act is and shall be held and construed to be a
public act of which the court shall take cognizance without proof
thereof, and in any court proceedings wherein the provisions of
this Act are drawn in question, the necessity for pleadings or
proving same is hereby dispensed with.
Law Cumulative; Conflict or Inconsistency
Sec. 34. The provisions of this Act are and shall be held and
construed to be cumulative of all General Laws of this State on
the subject treated of and embraced in this Act when not in
conflict or inconsistent herewith, but in case of such conflict
or inconsistency in whole or in part, this Act shall control said
county.
Partial Invalidity
Sec. 35. If any section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause
or word of this Act shall be held to be unconstitutional, the
remaining portions of same shall, nevertheless, be valid and it
is declared that such remaining portions would have been included
in this Act though the unconstitutional portion had been omitted.
Acts 1951, 52nd Leg., p. 472, ch. 300. Amended by Acts 1985, 69th
Leg., ch. 641, Sec. 11, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.
Art. 6812b-1. COUNTIES OF 160,000 TO 185,000; COUNTY ENGINEER;
DUTIES.
County Engineer
Sec. 1. The Commissioners Court of any county having a population
of not less than 280,000 nor more than 300,000 may appoint a
County Engineer, but the selection shall be controlled by
considerations of skill and ability for the task. The engineer
may be selected at any regular meeting of the commissioners
court, or at any special meeting called for that purpose. The
engineer selected shall be a Registered Professional Engineer in
the State of Texas. The engineer shall hold his office for a
period of two years, his term of office expiring concurrently
with the terms of other county officers, and he may be removed at
the pleasure of the commissioners court. The engineer shall
receive a salary to be fixed by the commissioners court not to
exceed the amount of the salary paid to the highest county
official, to be paid out of the Road and Bridge Fund. The
engineer, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, shall
take the oath of office prescribed by law, and shall execute a
bond in the sum of $15,000 with a good and sufficient surety or
sureties thereon, payable to the county judge of the county and
successors in office in trust, for the use and the benefit of the
Road and Bridge Fund, of the county to be approved by the court,
conditioned that such engineer will faithfully and efficiently
discharge and perform all of the duties required of him by law
and by the orders of said commissioners court and shall
faithfully and honestly and in due time account for all of the
money, property and materials placed in his custody.
Classification and Record of Roads
Sec. 2. (a) The county engineer shall, under the direction of the
commissioners court, and as soon as practicable, classify all
public roads in such county, and such classification when
completed, and when approved by the court, shall become a part of
the permanent records of roads and bridges of said county. He
shall prepare a suitable map of which shall be delineated in
appropriate colors the various roads which shall be designated as
first, second, and third class roads. The map shall show to which
place each road belongs and the nature of its construction. He
shall make a complete indexed record of each county road in the
county and all bridges. The records shall show when each county
road was dedicated to the use of the public, a complete
description as to location, measured length, width of
right-of-way, character of construction, and terminals of same.
(b) Each road shall be indexed in the record by the same number
and name as it is delineated on the map. As new roads are opened
and improved, and the existing roads are widened or improved so
as to change their class, such facts shall be added to the record
of such roads in the "Records of Roads." Such information shall
be made available to the public; provided, however that any
omission in respect to the above requirement shall not invalidate
any contract for the construction or repair of any road or
highway in said county, and where such classification, records
and indexes have heretofore been prepared there shall be no
necessity to repeat the same in the absence of public necessity
therefor, but same may be amended, added to or taken from as the
facts of public need may demand.
Inventory and Appraisal of Equipment; Disposal and Purchase
Sec. 3. The county engineer shall at the end of every 12 months,
acting in conjunction with each commissioner of the county, make
a complete inventory and appraisement of all tools, machinery,
equipment, materials, trucks, cars, and other property owned by
the respective commissioners, and transmit the same in written
form to the commissioners court and the county auditor, which
report shall be kept as a permanent inventory record by the
county auditor. When any of said tools, machinery, trucks, cars,
and other property becomes unusable, the commissioners court
shall enter an order upon the minutes of the court, stating such
facts and reason for disposing of such equipment and shall have
authority to dispose of same as it deems best. When in its
opinion it is necessary to purchase other machinery, supplies,
tools, and other equipment and materials, the commissioners court
shall enter an order on the minutes showing the necessity
therefor. All equipment purchased or acquired as herein
specified, shall be shown on the permanent inventory record.
Master Plan
Sec. 4. The county engineer shall, when funds are available and
when authorized by the commissioners court, to do so, make a
careful and thorough study of all roads at that time opened and
constructed with a view of determining what new roads and
connections of roads should be opened and constructed, as well as
what roads should be widened and improved. In making such survey,
he should take into consideration the convenience of the
traveling public, and especially the convenience of the
citizenship of the county, so that each community a part of the
county shall have easy and practical connection with the other
and the state highway system of roads in the county, thereby
furnishing to the citizenship of the county a convenient means of
ingress and egress into and out of every city and town, as well
as every other community in the county. The roads indicated in
such surveys to be opened and constructed, as well as existing
roads that are designated to be widened and improved, shall be
located and designated with the view of giving the entire county
an efficient road system. The commissioners court shall, in
selecting roads or new roads, as well as the improvement of
existing roads, look to the density of the population and amount
of traffic that will normally flow over such roads; such survey
when completed by the engineer, and when adopted by the
commissioners court at a regular meeting thereof, shall be known
as the Master Plan. When such Master Plan has been completed and
adopted by the court as it is stipulated, the same shall be made
into permanent record form and kept by the county engineer, and
after such adoption, all new construction, widening and permanent
improvement shall be done in accordance with such Master Plan and
with the view of ultimately completing the same, both as to
location and character of construction. The construction of said
Master Plan shall proceed as the available funds of the county
will permit, and each unit of such construction shall be made in
accordance with such Master Plan. The order in which the roads or
projects in the construction of said Master Plan are constructed
shall be determined by the county engineer, with the approval of
the commissioners court and in determining the priority of roads
or projects, the engineer and court shall take into consideration
the necessity and convenience of the public and should give
priority to those roads or projects that will result in the
greatest service to the greatest number of the citizenship of the
county, looking at all times to the entire county as a unit and
wholly disregarding precinct lines.
Adoption and Amendment of Master Plan
Sec. 5. The commissioners court shall when said Master Plan is
submitted to them for adoption, or if after adoption, an
amendment or change thereto shall be deemed advisable, set a date
at a regular meeting of commissioners court called for that
purpose, and give public notice thereof at least two weeks in
advance of such meeting and the purpose thereof, inviting the
citizenship of the county to be present to protest any part of
said Master Plan and also to make such suggestions as they deem
pertinent in connection with same, or any change therein, but the
decision of the commissioners court shall become and be final and
conclusive as to said Master Plan, and no succeeding
commissioners court shall have the power or authority to alter or
change or amend any of the provisions thereof except by unanimous
vote of the commissioners court. Provided, that where such Master
Plan has once been adopted, there shall be no necessity to repeat
the same in absence of public necessity thereof, for same may be
amended and altered when public necessity therefor is shown, and
after notice is given as herein above provided.
Subdivisions
Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the county engineer and the
commissioners court in each respective precinct to cause the
Master Plan to be conformed to the needs and demands of existing
and new subdivisions by constructing adequate highways leading
from such subdivisions to the county seat. Provided that from and
after the passage of this Act, the commissioners court, before
approving the plan or plans of any subdivision lying outside the
corporate limits of any city, town, or village, as required by
Article 6626, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, as amended,
shall require such subdivision to enter into a written contract
in agreement with the county, then such subdivider or dirt dealer
will grade, and gravel all streets and provide all necessary
drainage structures within such tract of land so subdivided. Such
street improvements and drainage structures shall be in
accordance with standard plans and specifications prepared by the
county engineer. Such contracts shall be for the benefit of any
person or persons, firm or corporation who may thereafter acquire
by purchase or otherwise any lot or lots in said addition or
subdivision, and the faithful performance of said contract as to
the initial improvements of said streets shall be deemed a part
of the consideration paid for said lot and be read into the
contract of sale of same, and such contract shall be enforceable
at the instance, if necessary, of the owner or owners of any lot
or lots in a given subdivision, suing singularly or as a group or
class. After such initial street improvements have been completed
in accordance with such plans, said streets then become and
remain a part of the county road system and shall be maintained
by the county unless and until included within the corporate
limits of a city, town or village capable of maintaining its own
streets.
Inspections of Plats, Subdivision Plans and Land Encompassed;
Advice to Commissioners Court and Developers
Sec. 7. The county engineer when directed to do so by the
commissioners court of the county, shall inspect all plats and
plans of subdivisions to be recorded within said county, and make
an on-site inspection of the land encompassed within said
subdivision and advise the court as to the roads, drainage,
sewage, and all aspects of said subdivision and terrain. The
county engineer when and if required by the commissioners court,
shall affix his signature to said plat along with the county
judge and the commissioners court upon any plat approved and
accepted by the commissioners court and filed in the county
clerk's office. The county engineer will offer advice and
suggestions to said developer and commissioners court in order to
promote conformity with any and all rules and regulations for
subdividing as laid out by the commissioners court.
Inspection of Various Utility Districts Within County; Map
Sec. 8. The county engineer when directed by the commissioners
court shall make such inspections of any and all utility
districts, water districts, sewage districts, and any other type
district formed within the confines of the county, to ascertain
whether or not said districts meet the state and county
requirements. The county engineer will keep a map setting out
each and every type district created within the county and make
it available for public use at any and all times required to do
so.
Assistance on County Functions
Sec. 9. The county engineer when requested to do so by the
commissioners court or by a commissioner shall assist said
commissioner in connection with any county road in said county,
any drainage problem, public buildings, health and sanitation
district, planning commissions, and any other function or service
over which the commissioner or commissioners court might have
jurisdiction.
Employees
Sec. 10. The commissioners court shall employ all help necessary
for the discharge of their public service or for the discharge of
the duties of the county engineer. Such employees shall receive
such compensation as may be fixed by the court, but in all such
cases an order shall be passed and entered on the minutes of the
court, showing in such case the public necessity for such
employment and the amount of compensation to be paid each
employee and the fund out of which it is to be paid.
Work Records; Daily Time Sheet
Sec. 11. The county engineer shall keep or cause to be kept, in
duplicate, a daily time sheet which shall show the amount of time
and the character of work performed and the place where the same
is performed by himself and each person working for the county
engineer, and such other records in connection therewith as the
commissioners court and county auditor may require, one copy of
which shall be furnished to the county auditor, and one copy
shall be retained by the engineer.
County Commissioners; Duties
Sec. 12. This Act shall in no way diminish, alter or eliminate
any of the duties presently handled by the commissioners court or
by any individual commissioner. Each member of the commissioners
court shall be and he is hereby required to devote all of his
time unless prevented by illness to the duties of his office, and
shall be in attendance at all sessions of the court.
Cumulative Effect; Conflict or Inconsistency
Sec. 13. The provisions of this Act are and shall be held and
construed to be cumulative of all general laws or special laws of
this state on the subject treated in this Act when not in
conflict or inconsistent herewith, but in case of such conflict
or inconsistency in whole or in part, this Act shall control.
Severability
Sec. 14. If any section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence,
clause, or word in this Act shall be held to be unconstitutional,
the remaining portions of same shall nevertheless be valid and it
is declared that such remaining portions would have been included
in this Act though the unconstitutional portion had been omitted.
County Engineer; Release From Position
Sec. 15. If at any time the commissioners court at any time feels
that the county engineer position is no further of any necessity
or benefit to the county, then said commissioners court has the
authority to release said engineer without any obligation to fill
said position or vacancy.
Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., p. 2483, ch. 809, eff. June 8, 1971. Sec. 1
amended by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 593, ch. 237, Sec. 127, eff.
Sept. 1, 1981; Sec. 1 amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 597,
Sec. 53, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Sec. 1 amended by Acts 2001, 77th
Leg., ch. 669, Sec. 171, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.