HB1520

Effective September 1, 2025, HB1520 moves the Angelina and Neches River Authority’s next Sunset review to 2037, with reviews every 12 years afterward. The authority remains subject to review but cannot be abolished through the Texas Sunset Act. This is not a new district or a provision automatically shutting the authority down in 2037. Final law

The act changes board governance:

• Terms shorten from six to four years, with four or five directors’ terms expiring every two years. The board still has nine governor-appointed directors under the existing membership provision.
• The governor designates the board president, who serves in that role at the governor’s pleasure. The board continues choosing its vice president and secretary-treasurer.
• Directors must complete training on the authority’s law, operations, finances, audits, ethics, open meetings and related duties before voting, deliberating or counting toward attendance. A transition allowed participation until December 1, 2025; from that date the training condition applied. Directors must annually acknowledge receiving and reviewing a training manual, and training travel is reimbursable.
• Grounds for removal include lacking or losing required qualifications, violating the specified conflict-of-interest law, substantial inability to perform duties because of illness/disability, or missing more than half of eligible regularly scheduled meetings in a calendar year without a majority-approved excuse.

The general manager must report a potential removal ground through board leadership to the governor and attorney general, with a different reporting route if the president is involved. A potential ground does not itself invalidate board actions. The act states grounds and notification duties, not that every allegation instantly removes a director. Existing qualifications require each director to be a freehold property taxpayer and qualified Texas voter. Authority’s governing chapter · Local conflict-of-interest law

The authority must employ a general manager, clearly separate board policy-making from staff management, provide a reasonable opportunity for public testimony on matters within its jurisdiction, and maintain an efficient complaint system. Complaint parties must receive periodic status updates unless notice would jeopardize an investigation.

Transition rules generally let serving directors remain until successors qualify. Successors to terms expiring after the effective date receive four-year terms. At the first board meeting after the effective date, the three directors with terms ending September 5, 2029 were required to draw lots to select which director’s term would instead end September 5, 2027. This is the statutory transition, not a claim that a particular drawing or appointment has been independently verified.