LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE

TITLE 3. ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT

SUBTITLE A. ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES

CHAPTER 72. COUNTY BOUNDARIES

Sec. 72.001.  BOUNDARY SURVEY;  APPOINTMENT OF SURVEYOR.  (a)  If a county court finds, or is notified by the commissioner of the General Land Office, that the boundary or part of a boundary of the county is not sufficiently definite, the county court shall appoint an experienced and competent registered professional land surveyor to conduct a survey of the boundary in question.  The surveyor shall make and establish the boundary lines and corners in the manner prescribed by this chapter.
(b)  In the order appointing the surveyor, the county court shall designate the boundary lines to be run and the boundary corners to be established and marked and shall conform to the law that defined the boundaries of the county.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.  Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1091, Sec. 26, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 72.002.  NOTICE TO ADJACENT COUNTY;  APPOINTMENT OF ADDITIONAL SURVEYOR.  (a)  A county court that orders a boundary survey shall give notice of the survey to the county court of any other county that has an interest in the boundary by sending a copy of the order to the county court of that county.  The notice must be given before the 10th day before the date on which the notified county court meets.
(b)  The order must state the time and place for the beginning of the survey.  The day scheduled for the beginning of the survey must be on or before the 20th day after the day on which the notified county court meets.
(c)  The notified county court shall appoint an experienced and competent registered professional land surveyor to assist in the survey of the boundary lines in question.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.  Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1091, Sec. 27, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 72.003.  BOUNDARY MARKERS.  (a)  The initial corners of the survey shall be designated by boundary markers.
(b)  Only a post, a stone monument, or a mound may be used as a boundary marker.
(c)  A post used as a boundary marker must be of hewn cedar, cypress, or bois d'arc.  The post must be at least eight inches in diameter and at least five feet in length and must be set in the ground to a depth of at least three feet.
(d)  A mound used as a boundary marker must be composed of stone if the use of stone is practicable.  If the use of stone is not practicable, a mound may be composed of earth.  A mound must be at least two feet in height.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 72.004.  DUTIES OF SURVEYOR;  FIELD NOTES.  (a)  A surveyor appointed under this chapter shall describe the initial corners of the boundary lines on the boundary markers established at the corners.  The surveyor shall supervise the establishment of additional boundary markers at one-mile intervals along the boundary line.
(b)  In the field notes of the survey, the surveyor shall accurately describe all prominent natural objects that are crossed by or are adjacent to the boundary lines under survey, as well as the corners and lines of surveys on or near the boundaries.
(c)  After each boundary line in question is surveyed and marked, the surveyor promptly shall return the field notes and map of the survey to the county court that appointed the surveyor.
(d)  The county clerk shall record the field notes and map and shall deliver a certified copy of the notes and map to the General Land Office.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 72.005.  OATH AND BOND OF SURVEYOR.  (a)  Before performing duties under this chapter, a surveyor must take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution for appointed officers and must execute a bond conditioned that the surveyor will faithfully perform those duties.
(b)  The bond must be in the amount of $1,000, must be payable to the county judge or the judge's successors in office, and must have two or more sureties who are approved by the county judge.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 72.006.  PAYMENT OF EXPENSES.  (a)  The counties that have an interest in the boundary lines in question shall divide the expenses incurred in making the survey and establishing the boundary markers in proportion to each county's frontage on the line.
(b)  A surveyor appointed under this chapter is entitled to receive the actual expenses incurred in making the survey and any fees for surveying services agreed on by the surveyor and the counties.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.  Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 991, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 72.007.  EFFECT OF FAILURE OF APPOINTED SURVEYOR TO APPEAR.  If either of the surveyors appointed under Sections 72.001 and 72.002 is absent at the time and place scheduled for the beginning of the survey, the surveyor who is present shall conduct the survey alone and shall deliver the survey report to the county court that appointed that surveyor.  On approval by that court, the report shall be recorded as evidence of the boundary line in question and shall be treated as the true boundary between the counties.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 72.008.  EFFECT OF FAILURE TO AGREE ON BOUNDARY.  (a)  If the surveyors appointed under Sections 72.001 and 72.002 fail to agree on the boundary line in question between their respective counties, they shall report to the commissioner of the General Land Office the facts of the disagreement, with a full statement of the questions at issue.
(b)  The commissioner shall examine the disputed matter at once.  From the information maintained in the General Land Office, the commissioner shall designate to the surveyors the line to be run, stating at what specific point the surveyors shall begin and to what specific point they shall run the line.  In the instructions to the surveyors, the commissioner shall adhere as closely as possible to the line designated in the law that created the county line.  The instructions from the commissioner constitute authority for the surveyors to run that line.  After the survey based on the commissioner's instructions, that line is the true boundary between the counties.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 72.009.  SUIT TO ESTABLISH BOUNDARIES.  (a)  A county may bring suit against an adjacent county to establish the common boundary line.  The suit must be brought in the district court of a county in an adjoining judicial district whose boundaries are not affected by the suit and whose county seat is closest to the county seat of the county that brings the suit.  The court shall try the suit in the same manner in which it tries other suits.
(b)  The district court has jurisdiction to determine where the boundary line is located and may order the line to be re-marked and resurveyed.  The line established by the district court shall be treated as the true boundary between the counties unless the court determines that the line in question was established under prior law.  If the district court determines that the boundary line has been established under prior law, the court shall declare that line to be the true boundary between the counties and shall have that line resurveyed and established as the boundary.
(c)  The commissioner of the General Land Office may not mark a contested county line on the maps maintained by the land office until a certified copy of the final judgment is filed in the land office with a certified copy of the field notes of the boundary line established by the judgment.
(d)  The remedy provided by this section is in addition to any other remedy prescribed by this chapter.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 72.010.  SUIT TO ESTABLISH BOUNDARIES OF AND TAXES OWED TO CERTAIN COUNTIES OR TAXING UNITS LOCATED IN THOSE COUNTIES.  (a)  In this section:
(1)  "Like taxing units" means counties or other taxing units that are of the same type as one another and that by law may not include the same geographic territory.
(2)  "Taxing unit" has the meaning assigned by Section 1.04, Tax Code.
(b)  This section applies only to:
(1)  a county that has a population of less than 400,000 and contains a municipality with a population of at least 300,000;
(2)  a county that has a population of at least 50,000 and is adjacent to a county described by Subdivision (1); and
(3)  a taxing unit other than a county that has territory in a county described by Subdivision (1) or (2).
(c)  If, as a result of disputed, overlapping, or erroneously applied geographic boundaries between like taxing units, multiple like taxing units have imposed ad valorem taxes on the same property, the property owner may file suit in the supreme court to:
(1)  establish the correct geographic boundary between the taxing units; and
(2)  determine the amount of taxes owed on the property and the taxing unit or units to which the taxes are owed.
(d)  The supreme court has original jurisdiction to hear and determine a suit filed under Subsection (c) and may issue injunctive or declaratory relief in connection with the suit.
(e)  The supreme court shall enter a final order determining a suit filed under Subsection (c) not later than the 90th day after the date the suit is filed.
Added by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 768 (S.B. 2242), Sec. 1, eff. June 12, 2017.