HB5698

HB5698 renames the Harris-Montgomery Counties Management District as the Southeast Regional Management District. It also gives the existing board a choice of how to obtain appointments to a succeeding board: recommend people to Harris County Commissioners Court or petition the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to appoint people from the board’s recommendations.

Previously, the statute directed recommendations to the county and used the state commission as a fallback if specified appointment provisions were found invalid. The new law makes a board petition sufficient to activate the state appointment route; it does not require such an invalidity finding first. It does not create direct elections or require that every appointment go through the state agency.

The five-member board and staggered four-year terms remain. Unchanged provisions allow the county to approve or disapprove recommendations, require additional recommendations on the county’s request if Houston objects, and permit successive terms. The act does not repeal those provisions or explain a new procedure for resolving every possible interaction with the alternative state route.

The act became law without the governor’s signature on June 20, 2025, effective immediately. The certified votes were 114–17, with two present but not voting, in the House and 27–4 in the Senate. It renames an existing district rather than creating a second district or changing its boundaries. Sources: enrolled law, official history and the governing chapter.