Texas Senate bill by Sen. Schwertner sets hearing, notice rules for homeless housing conversion

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Charles Schwertner aims to establish procedural requirements for municipalities converting properties to house homeless individuals, seeking to ensure public hearings and advance notice to local residents and businesses, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the Senate, two Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while nine Democrats opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the House, 20 Democrats and 77 Republicans voted in favor, while 37 Democrats and one Republican voted against it.

Charles Schwertner introduced the bill in the Texas Senate on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, ahead of the official start of the 89th regular legislative session on Jan. 14, 2025.

Schwertner graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BS.

Schwertner, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State Senate in 2013 to represent the state’s 5th Senate district, replacing previous state senator Steve Ogden.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to hearing and public notice requirements regarding the conversion by a municipality of certain properties to house homeless individuals’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill establishes specific hearing and notice requirements for Texas municipalities converting properties to house homeless individuals. Before conversion, a municipality’s governing body must hold a public hearing at a location within a one-mile radius of the property and provide notice by mail to local residents and businesses at least 36 hours in advance. Noncompliance allows entitled individuals to seek injunctive relief in the county’s district court. This requirement does not apply to temporary shelters during emergencies or natural disasters. The bill becomes effective immediately with a two-thirds legislative vote or on Sept. 1, 2025, if this vote is not achieved.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Wednesday, May 14, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday, May 27.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.