2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · House bill

HB1615

HB1615 gathers and reorganizes the laws governing five existing special districts into named chapters of the Special District Local Laws Code.

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Official caption: Relating to the nonsubstantive revision of certain local laws concerning water and wastewater special districts, including a conforming amendment.

Became law without signatureSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists House author(s): Leach. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

HB1615 gathers and reorganizes the laws governing five existing special districts into named chapters of the Special District Local Laws Code.
The numbers and authorities in these chapters should not be presented as newly awarded powers.
Several property-acquisition provisions expressly retain the condition that eminent-domain authority expired in 2013 unless the entity submitted the required letter to the comptroller by December 31, 2012.
The act repeals the older local-law provisions that it replaces, while preserving validations under earlier laws.

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What does it do?

HB1615 gathers and reorganizes the laws governing five existing special districts into named chapters of the Special District Local Laws Code. It takes effect April 1, 2027. The Legislature expressly states that this is a codification only, with no intended substantive change, and that it does not increase or decrease any district’s territory as it exists on that date. It is not the creation of five new districts or approval of five new construction projects. Final law, Articles 1 and 4.

The five chapters are:

5008 — Willacy County Navigation District: its elected commissioners, port and property powers, airport and security functions, maintenance taxes and specified bonds.
8512 — Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority: its appointed directors, water and related operations, public participation and complaints, financial management, rates, borrowing and bonds.
8515 — Upper Guadalupe River Authority: its appointed board, water and wastewater operations, financial provisions, revenue notes and bond-election rules.
9092 — Franklin County Water District: its elected board, water services, property and contract powers, tax elections and borrowing.
9305 — Escondido Watershed District: its elected board, flood prevention, soil and water conservation, property powers, taxes and bonds.

The numbers and authorities in these chapters should not be presented as newly awarded powers. For example, the Willacy chapter carries forward a maintenance-and-operation tax ceiling of 20 cents per $100 of taxable value, while the Upper Guadalupe chapter carries forward up to $55 million in revenue notes, payable from pledged revenue rather than taxes. The Guadalupe-Blanco chapter itself does not authorize taxation. These are district-specific provisions, not a single financing rule for all five districts, and the bill does not itself order a tax increase or a borrowing transaction. Final law; official source-law comparisons and revisor’s notes.

Several property-acquisition provisions expressly retain the condition that eminent-domain authority expired in 2013 unless the entity submitted the required letter to the comptroller by December 31, 2012. Reprinting that authority does not revive a power that had expired. The bill and this briefing do not establish whether a particular entity filed that letter. Final law, Sections 5008.0301, 8512.0314, 9092.0307 and 9305.0302; Government Code 2206.101.

The act repeals the older local-law provisions that it replaces, while preserving validations under earlier laws. Escondido’s lengthy boundary description remains in its older local act, with a conforming amendment and a reference from the new chapter. The repeal list is therefore not a dissolution of these districts, and the boundary text is not an annexation proposal. Final law, Articles 2–4.

What changed along the way?

The official amendment index says the bill has no amendments. All four available versions—introduced, House committee, House-passed and enrolled—have identical operative text. Both chambers passed the bill without a floor amendment; there was no conference rewrite. Amendment index; version index; history.

The revision nevertheless changes organization and wording: long local acts are divided into topic-based sections, references are updated, and obsolete, already completed or superseded provisions are omitted. The Legislative Council’s report prints revised and source law with explanations. Those drafting changes are distinct from legislative amendments to HB1615 and should not be treated as new policy solely because the old wording disappears. Revisor’s report; Council project page.

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

Residents, landowners, customers, district officials and bondholders may find the governing laws easier to locate and understand without searching decades of session-law volumes. Districts and legal practitioners will need to account for the new citations in their materials. HB1615 does not promise lower water bills, new flood-control works or a particular tax reduction.

The May 9, 2025 fiscal note anticipates no fiscal impact to the state or local governments. It provides no dollar estimate or quantified two-year or five-year projection. The tax ceilings and borrowing limits printed in the law are not estimates of new spending caused by this revision.

Review boundary: All final provisions, including the boundary description, repealers and preservation language, all four versions, history, the empty amendment index and both fiscal notes were checked. The Council’s enacted-law report was used to check the source provisions and explanations supporting the key governance, territory, financing and property-power distinctions above. This is not an audit of district compliance, current tax rates, outstanding debt or an individual property’s inclusion.

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.