Testimony before the Texas Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations: Senate Bill 1303

March 28, 2019

Shelby Sterling, J.D.

Shelby is a born-and-raised Texan from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She attended the University of Oklahoma where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Letters: Constitutional Emphasis, which is a combination study of philosophy, history, and literature on the U.S. Constitution and the Founding Fathers.

After graduation, Shelby followed her passion for law and returned to Texas to pursue her J.D. at Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth.

Senate Bill 1303 will require that notice be given to each property owner who will be included in the expanded ETJ of a proposed annexation plan. Notice must include, among other things, a list of municipal ordinances that would be applicable in the expanded ETJ. Moreover, SB 1303 also requires municipalities to provide a clearly defined digital map of the new ETJ that displays the municipality’s annexation plan along with the newly extended ETJ. The municipality will also be required to bear the cost of creating and maintaining the digital map and ensuring it is accessible to the public.

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