HB2731

Beginning September 1, 2025, HB2731 changes the special roadside-regulation authority for counties bordering Mexico. It lowers the qualifying population from more than 870,000 to more than 200,000, while narrowing the activities covered by that particular authority. A qualifying county’s commissioners court may adopt an order; the bill itself does not impose a countywide ban. Final law

The authority applies in unincorporated areas, for activities in a parking lot or on or in a public highway or road’s right-of-way. The listed activities are sales and vendor structures by a vendor of live animals, and solicitation of money. The former cross-reference broadly covering food and merchandise vendors is removed from this border-county provision. So is the restriction limiting highway/right-of-way regulation to roads with speed limits of at least 40 mph.

A county may retain the specified setback: a vendor can be required to stay at least half the adjacent right-of-way’s width away from the road’s edge. But an order under this border-county authority may not prohibit the sale of livestock. That protects against a prohibition; it is not a blanket exemption from all regulation.

The existing chapter permits vendor/solicitor permits, reasonable fees and removal of structures violating regulations. Conflicting state statutes or agency rules prevail. Knowingly violating a chapter regulation, or knowingly obstructing or threatening to obstruct removal of a violating structure, remains a Class C misdemeanor, with each continuing day a separate offense. HB2731 changes the reach of the framework, not those existing penalty provisions.

The law does not give all Texas counties general power over every roadside business. Other authority can apply separately: the enacted version leaves subsection 285.001(a) to other law, and the official consolidated statute also reflects HB2012’s separate county-population expansion. Whether a particular county has adopted an order requires checking that county’s rules.