Bill Text: TX SB2011 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the adoption of noise regulations by certain counties; providing a criminal penalty; authorizing a fee.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2025-03-17 - Referred to Local Government [SB2011 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-SB2011-Introduced.html
| 89R14078 CS-D | ||
| By: Johnson | S.B. No. 2011 | |
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| relating to the adoption of noise regulations by certain counties; | ||
| providing a criminal penalty; authorizing a fee. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Chapter 240, Local Government Code, is amended | ||
| by adding Subchapter D to read as follows: | ||
| SUBCHAPTER D. REGULATION OF NOISE AND SOUND LEVELS | ||
| Sec. 240.061. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter | ||
| applies only to a county with a population of more than 2.6 million. | ||
| Sec. 240.062. AUTHORITY TO REGULATE. The commissioners | ||
| court of a county by order shall prohibit the production of sound | ||
| from a loudspeaker or sound amplifier in the unincorporated area of | ||
| the county that exceeds a reasonable level as specified in the | ||
| order. | ||
| Sec. 240.063. EXEMPTIONS. A sound is exempt from | ||
| regulation under this subchapter if it is a sound produced by the | ||
| operations or facilities of: | ||
| (1) an electric utility as defined by Section 31.002, | ||
| Utilities Code; or | ||
| (2) a gas utility as defined by Section 101.003 or | ||
| 121.001, Utilities Code. | ||
| Sec. 240.064. PERMIT FOR CERTAIN EVENTS; PERMIT FEES. (a) | ||
| A commissioners court by order may authorize the holding of events | ||
| at which loudspeakers or sound amplifiers that produce sounds | ||
| exceeding the levels specified in the order adopted under Section | ||
| 240.062 will be used, if the person holding an event obtains a | ||
| permit from the county for the event. | ||
| (b) In determining whether to grant a permit under this | ||
| section, a commissioners court shall consider whether the sound is | ||
| recurrent, intermittent, or constant. | ||
| (c) The regulations adopted under this subchapter may | ||
| provide for the denial, suspension, or revocation of a permit by the | ||
| county. | ||
| (d) A district court has jurisdiction of a suit that arises | ||
| from the denial, suspension, or revocation of a permit by the | ||
| county. | ||
| (e) A county may impose fees on an applicant for a permit | ||
| under this section. The fees must be based on the administrative | ||
| costs of issuing the permit. A county that imposes a permit fee | ||
| shall establish procedures to reduce the fee amount if the | ||
| applicant is unable to pay the full permit fee. | ||
| Sec. 240.065. METHOD OF SOUND MEASUREMENT. A commissioners | ||
| court by rule shall adopt a procedure to measure noise and sound | ||
| levels under this subchapter. | ||
| Sec. 240.066. INJUNCTION. A county may sue in the district | ||
| court for an injunction to prohibit the violation or threatened | ||
| violation of a prohibition or other regulation adopted under this | ||
| subchapter. | ||
| Sec. 240.067. CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person commits an | ||
| offense if the person violates a prohibition or other regulation | ||
| adopted under this subchapter. | ||
| (b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor. | ||
| If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this section that the | ||
| person has previously been convicted of an offense under this | ||
| section, the offense is a Class B misdemeanor. | ||
| SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
| a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
| provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
| Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
| Act takes effect September 1, 2025. | ||
