Monitoring the Session

HB 1701

bill letting counties hand fire code enforcement to cities

Did not pass

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Rep. Lulu FloresDHouse 51

Initial review · graded Oct 20, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

relating to the administration and enforcement of a county fire code.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Or to an emergency services district wholly in the county.

The bill lets a county that adopts a fire code contract with a city in the county or an emergency services district located wholly in the county to run and enforce that fire code. It touches county commissioners courts, county fire marshals, cities, and emergency services districts. When such a contract exists, the county fire marshal must hand off fire code administration and enforcement to the contracting city or district, starting September 1, 2025.

Labels

Labels: STALLED AFTER COMMITTEE. Voted out of the House Intergovernmental Affairs committee 10-1 on Apr 30, 2025. Never placed on a calendar. The bill died.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB1701 · 2024-12-20

SOLD BY

Rep. Lulu FloresDHouse 51 Rep. Sheryl ColeDHouse 46 Rep. Erin ZwienerDHouse 45

+ 2 coauthors

ITEM

relating to the administration and enforcement of a county fire code.

WHAT IT DOES

Or to an emergency services district wholly in the county.

The bill lets a county that adopts a fire code contract with a city in the county or an emergency services district located wholly in the county to run and enforce that fire code. It touches county commissioners courts, county fire marshals, cities, and emergency services districts. When such a contract exists, the county fire marshal must hand off fire code administration and enforcement to the contracting city or district, starting September 1, 2025.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · May 14, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

  1. Filed
  2. Read first time
  3. Referred to Intergovernmental Affairs
  4. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  5. Considered in public hearing
  6. Committee substitute considered in committee
  7. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  8. Left pending in committee
  9. Considered in formal meeting
  10. Committee substitute considered in committee
  11. Reported favorably as substituted
  12. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  13. Committee report distributed
  14. Committee report sent to Calendars
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Lulu Flores

Donors

Texas Trial Lawyers Assocation PAC$23KMichael Brickman$15,000Johann Moonesinghe$10,000

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Aug 5, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Texas Trial Lawyers Assocation PAC$22,500.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Assocation PAC

$22,500.00

Cash
$22,500.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$22,500.00

Also funds 0 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Sep 20, 2024 to Jun 22, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Sep 20, 2024 to Jun 22, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985004, 101007867, 101059825.

Michael Brickman$15,000.00
Johann Moonesinghe$10,000.00
Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

×

Texas Trial Lawyers Assocation PAC

$22,500.00

Cash
$22,500.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$22,500.00

Also funds 0 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Sep 20, 2024 to Jun 22, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Sep 20, 2024 to Jun 22, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985004, 101007867, 101059825.

Votes

No floor vote loaded for this bill.

Witnesses13
For
13
Against
0
On
0
Names

For

  • Bexar County Commissioners Court1 registration
  • Conference of Urban Counties1 registration
  • El Paso County1 registration
  • Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club1 registration
  • SAFE-D, the Texas State Association of Fire and Emergency Districts1 registration
  • Self1 registration
  • Self; Travis County ESD 6 / Lake Travis Fire Rescue1 registration
  • Texas Fire Chiefs Assoc1 registration
  • Texas State Association of Fire and Emergency Districts1 registration
  • Travis County Commissioners Court1 registration
  • Travis County Emergency Services1 registration
  • Travis County Fire Marshal1 registration
  • Travis County Fire Rescue (ESD 11/15)1 registration
Sources

13 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

House witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · May 14, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version I by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 20, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas House · Filed Dec 20, 2024

05/21/2025 H Committee report sent to Calendars

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:20 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors
Penny Morales ShawDHouse 148 Ana-María Rodríguez RamosDHouse 102

House committee · Intergovernmental Affairs · Committee vote 10 aye, 1 nay · Out of committee

Companion

SB 628 by Zaffirini (similar)

Subjects

County Government--Employees/Officers

Fire Fighters & Police--General

FIRE MARSHAL

FIRE SAFETY & PREVENTION

Text

The text as introduced · 212 words

89R1969 SCL-F

By: Flores
H.B. No. 1701

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the administration and enforcement of a county fire

code.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 233.061(b), Local Government Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(b) The commissioners court of a county that adopts a fire

code under Subsection (a) [ , or any municipality in the county, ] may

contract with a municipality located in the county or an emergency

services district located wholly in the county [ one another ] for

the administration and enforcement of the fire code.

SECTION 2. Section 352.019, Local Government Code, is

amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to

read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), the [ The ] county

fire marshal shall enforce all state and county regulations that

relate to fires, explosions, or damages of any kind caused by a fire

or explosion.

(a-1) The county fire marshal shall delegate the

administration and enforcement of the county's fire code to a

municipality or emergency services district in accordance with a

contract entered into by the commissioners court of the county

under Section 233.061.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.