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HB 309

Regards budget commissions, property tax, and certain funds

136th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Sarah Fowler Arthur and 43 co-sponsors

HB 309 would let owners use police to immediately remove unlawful occupants from residential property under strict conditions, with higher penalties for certain property damage.

Passed
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Bill Summary · HB 309

HB 309 — "Removing Unlawful Occupants from Property"

Status: Action postponed indefinitely
Introduced: August 28, 2025
Subject areas: Crimes & penalties; property (real estate, land occupancy)

Purpose / Intent

HB 309 would create a statutory process allowing residential property owners (or their authorized agents) to obtain immediate assistance from law enforcement to remove persons unlawfully occupying the owner’s real property. The bill also increases criminal penalties for certain property-damage offenses and preserves limited civil remedies for persons removed.

Key provisions

  • Definition and request for removal
    • A property owner or authorized agent may go to a police station or sheriff’s office and request immediate removal of persons “unlawfully occupying” the owner’s residential real property.
    • Conditions for use of the procedure include: the dwelling is residential; occupants entered without permission and continuously reside there; property was not open to the public when entered; the owner has told occupants to leave; occupants are not tenants under the Uniform Owner‑Resident Relations Act; occupants are not immediate family; and there is no pending litigation about the property.
  • Law enforcement procedures
    • A peace officer must verify the requester is the owner of record (or authorized agent) and appears entitled to relief.
    • If verified, the officer serves a notice to immediately vacate to the unlawful occupants, attempts to identify them, and may arrest for trespass, outstanding warrants, or other legal cause.
    • After notice, the owner may request an officer to “stand by” while the owner changes locks and removes the unlawful occupant’s personal property.
    • The owner is not civilly liable for loss or damage to the occupant’s property unless the removal was wrongful.
  • Criminal penalties
    • The bill elevates criminal damage to property above $1,000 from a lower-level felony to a higher-level felony (document describes change to a second‑degree felony with a substantially longer maximum sentence).
  • Civil remedies for removed persons
    • A removed person may bring ejectment proceedings to regain possession and may recover actual costs, damages, and statutory damages.

Who would be affected

  • Residential property owners and their agents (gains an expedited removal mechanism).
  • Unlawful occupants/squatters (subject to immediate notice, possible arrest, lock‑changes and removal of personal property).
  • Law enforcement agencies (new verification and removal duties; potential involvement in civil-like disputes).
  • Judicial system, public defenders, district attorneys, and corrections (potentially more prosecutions, court workload, and incarceration).
  • Renters under statutory rental regimes and immediate family members are explicitly excluded from the expedited procedure.

Fiscal and policy impacts

  • Fiscal analyses (Legislative Finance Committee / corrections and justice agencies) flagged potential recurring general‑fund costs tied to increased prosecutions, public defender and DA workload, and incarceration if more defendants receive longer felony sentences. Estimates vary widely depending on enforcement and sentencing: marginal per‑day prison cost cited at $155.63; attorney/support staffing cost estimates around $275,000/year per added FTE.
  • Agencies raised policy and constitutional concerns: the measure risks blurring civil eviction matters and criminal enforcement; it could be misused by owners; and it may raise due‑process and liability questions if removals are later determined unlawful.
  • Behavioral research note: increasing penalty severity is not always an effective deterrent and longer incarceration can have criminogenic effects.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • The bill’s status is “action postponed indefinitely,” indicating it is not currently advancing.
  • One fiscal summary indicated no explicit effective date in the text, which would ordinarily make the law effective 90 days after adjournment (the text referenced June 20, 2025 in that analysis). Given the bill’s postponement, no effective date is operative.

Bottom line

HB 309 aims to streamline removal of alleged unlawful occupants from residential property by authorizing immediate law‑enforcement‑assisted removal under specific conditions and increases penalties for some property‑damage offenses. While it may provide a quicker remedy for owners, it raises fiscal, procedural, due‑process, and enforcement concerns that were highlighted by law‑enforcement and fiscal analysts.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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