Relating to territory in an emergency services district that is annexed by a municipality, the official text

S.B. No. 2965

AN ACT

relating to territory in an emergency services district that is

annexed by a municipality.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 775.022, Health and Safety Code, is

amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to

read as follows:

(a) If a municipality completes all other procedures

necessary to annex territory in a district, including the

preparation of a service plan if required by Section 43.056, Local

Government Code, [and if] the municipality intends to remove the

territory from the district, and the municipality is capable at the

time of the removal of being [be] the sole provider of emergency

services to the territory by the use of municipal personnel or by

some method other than by use of the district, the municipality

shall send written notice of those facts, and the completed service

plan, if applicable, to the board not later than the 30th day after

completing the necessary procedures. The municipality must send

the notice to the secretary of the board by certified mail, return

receipt requested. The territory remains part of the district and

does not become part of the municipality until the secretary of the

board receives the notice and the board by resolution disannexes

the territory from the district. The board must send a copy of the

resolution to the municipality by certified mail, return receipt

requested, not later than the 30th day after the date on which the

board adopts the resolution. If the governing body of the

municipality disagrees with the board's determination that the

municipal services will not meet or exceed the level of service

provided by the district, the municipality may adopt a resolution

stating the grounds for the disagreement and requesting arbitration

in the manner provided by Section 775.0221. If the board determines

that the municipal services planned to be provided in the territory

will not meet or exceed the level of service provided by the

district in the territory, the board shall adopt that determination

in a resolution and may not by resolution disannex the territory

from the district. If the board determines that municipal services

planned to be provided in the territory will meet or exceed the

level of service provided by the district in the territory at the

time of disannexation [On receipt of the notice], the board shall by

resolution disannex the territory from the district, notify the

appraisal district to [immediately] change its records to show that

the territory has been disannexed from the district, and [shall]

cease to provide further services to the residents of that

territory. This subsection does not require a municipality to

remove from a district territory the municipality has annexed. For

the purposes of this subsection, "level of service" for fire and

emergency medical protection means the location, deployment, and

response time of fire suppression or medical resources originally

dispatched to a structural or wildland fire or emergency medical

incident.

(a-1) A board is considered to have approved a disannexation

of territory under Subsection (a) if the board fails to provide to

the municipality a resolution disapproving or approving the

disannexation before the 30th day after the date the board receives

the notice under Subsection (a) from the municipality.

SECTION 2. Section 775.0221, Health and Safety Code, is

amended by adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (b) to

read as follows:

(a-1) If the governing body of a municipality adopts a

resolution under Section 775.022 disputing the determination of the

board of a district that municipal services will not meet or exceed

the level of service provided by the district and requesting

arbitration, the municipality and the district shall resolve the

dispute using binding arbitration.

(b) A request for binding arbitration must be in writing and

may not be made before the 60th day after the date the municipality

receives, as applicable:

(1) a resolution from the district under Section

775.022 determining that municipal services will not meet or exceed

the level of service provided by the district; or

(2) notice from the district regarding the amount of

compensation required under Section 775.022.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

______________________________
______________________________

President of the Senate
Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2965 passed the Senate on

May 9, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1; and that the

Senate concurred in House amendment on May 30, 2025, by the

following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________

Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2965 passed the House, with

amendment, on May 28, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 124,

Nays 14, three present not voting.

______________________________

Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

______________________________

Date

______________________________

Governor