Sen. Phil King introduced SB 1965, a bill on Special Districts & Authorities, to the Texas Senate on Wednesday, March 5 during the 89(R) legislative session, according to the Texas Legislature website.
More specifically, the official text was summarized by the state legislature as ’’relating to requirements for the addition of noncontiguous territory to certain special districts’’.
The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.
The bill amends multiple sections of the Local Government Code and Water Code to regulate the addition of territory to special districts. It prohibits the annexation of noncontiguous land located more than 200 feet from current district boundaries. Further, it mandates that districts intending to add land by petition must notify each landowner in the proposed area and relevant municipalities by certified mail at least 14 days before the annexation hearing. These changes also establish procedural precedence by noting that specific sections of the Water Code take priority in cases of legislative conflict. The act’s provisions apply only to land petitions submitted on or after the act’s effective date, Sept. 1, 2025, thereby preserving the applicability of previous laws to earlier petitions.
Phil King, the chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, proposed another 21 bills during the 89(R) legislative session. He is also the vice chair of the Senate Committee on Business & Commerce, a member of the Senate Committee on Committee of the Whole Senate, a member of the Senate Committee on Education K-16, a member of the Senate Committee on Transportation, and a member of the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice.
King graduated from Dallas Baptist University in 1981 with a BA and again in 1993 from Texas A&M University School of Law with a JD.
Phil King is currently serving in the Texas State Senate, representing the state’s 10th Senate district. He replaced previous state senator Beverly Powell in 2023.
Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.
You can read more about the bills and other measures here.
| Legislative Session | Bill Number | Date Introduced | Short Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 89(R) | SB 1956 | 03/05/2025 | Relating to an application for and the issuance of a marriage license after the marriage ceremony has been conducted |
| 89(R) | SB 1646 | 02/26/2025 | Relating to criminal conduct involving the theft or unauthorized possession of copper or brass and to the sale of copper or brass material to metal recycling entities; creating criminal offenses; providing an administrative penalty |
| 89(R) | SB 1637 | 02/25/2025 | Relating to the prosecution of the offense of deadly conduct |
| 89(R) | SB 1569 | 02/24/2025 | Relating to the availability of certain personal information of a member of the governing board of an institution of higher education, the chief executive officer of the institution, or the chief executive officer of a university system |
| 89(R) | SB 1329 | 02/14/2025 | Relating to school district police department accreditation, including a grant program to assist departments in becoming accredited |
| 89(R) | SB 1298 | 02/14/2025 | Relating to instruction in online safety for minors provided in public schools and by the Department of Public Safety |
| 89(R) | SB 6 | 02/12/2025 | Relating to electricity planning and infrastructure costs for large loads |
| 89(R) | SB 1208 | 02/10/2025 | Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of interference with public duties |
| 89(R) | SB 1207 | 02/10/2025 | Relating to instruction on adoption in the parenting and paternity awareness program in public schools |
| 89(R) | SB 1202 | 02/10/2025 | Relating to third-party review of property development documents and inspections of improvements related to those documents, including home backup power installations |
| 89(R) | SB 10 | 02/10/2025 | Relating to the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms |
| 89(R) | SB 1049 | 02/03/2025 | Relating to excused absences from public school for the purpose of attending a released time course |
| 89(R) | SB 784 | 01/15/2025 | Relating to the transfer of certain public school students who are children of peace officers |
| 89(R) | SB 782 | 01/14/2025 | Relating to a severance tax exemption for oil and gas produced from certain restimulation wells; providing a civil penalty |
| 89(R) | SB 781 | 01/14/2025 | Relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency regarding certain employees of the agency |
| 89(R) | SB 747 | 01/08/2025 | Relating to public school policies and programs regarding the production or distribution of certain intimate visual material by public school students |
| 89(R) | SB 707 | 01/06/2025 | Relating to the authority of the legislature to determine that certain federal directives are unconstitutional and to prohibit certain government officers and employees from enforcing or assisting in the enforcement of the directive |
| 89(R) | SB 567 | 12/12/2024 | Relating to the use of a building owned or controlled by a public school as a polling place |
| 89(R) | SB 388 | 11/19/2024 | Relating to the legislature’s goals for electric generation capacity in this state |
| 89(R) | SB 326 | 11/13/2024 | Relating to the procedure for determining whether a student’s violation of a public school’s or public institution of higher education’s student code of conduct was motivated by antisemitism |
| 89(R) | SB 231 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to temporary emergency electric energy facilities |
| 88(4) | SB 20 | 11/07/2023 | Relating to the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms |
| 88(4) | SB 21 | 11/07/2023 | Relating to law enforcement agency accreditation, including a grant program to assist agencies in becoming accredited; making an appropriation |
| 88(3) | SB 22 | 10/06/2023 | Relating to the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms |
| 88(3) | SB 23 | 10/06/2023 | Relating to law enforcement agency accreditation, including a grant program to assist agencies in becoming accredited; making an appropriation |
| 88(1) | SB 9 | 06/05/2023 | Relating to the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms |
| 88(R) | SB 2509 | 03/10/2023 | Relating to enforcement of the regulation of social media platforms |
| 88(R) | SB 2510 | 03/10/2023 | Relating to statutory damages in actions brought by social media users against social media platforms for prohibited censorship |
| 88(R) | SB 2014 | 03/09/2023 | Relating to the legislature’s goals for renewable electric generating capacity |
| 88(R) | SB 2015 | 03/09/2023 | Relating to the legislature’s goals for electric generation capacity in this state |
| 88(R) | SB 2041 | 03/09/2023 | Relating to the manner in which certain criminal proceedings are conducted |
| 88(R) | SB 2042 | 03/09/2023 | Relating to prohibiting the carrying of a handgun by a member of a criminal street gang while engaged in criminal activity; creating a criminal offense; changing the eligibility for community supervision |
| 88(R) | SB 2043 | 03/09/2023 | Relating to the prosecution of organized criminal activity involving obstructing a highway or other passageway by engaging in a reckless driving exhibition or street racing on a highway |
| 88(R) | SB 2158 | 03/09/2023 | Relating to the establishment of an adult education pilot program by the Windham School District |
| 88(R) | SB 2159 | 03/09/2023 | Relating to prohibiting the use of certain social media applications and services on devices owned or leased by state agencies |
| 88(R) | SB 2160 | 03/09/2023 | Relating to the authority of a county to restrict sex offenders from child safety zones in the unincorporated area of the county; creating a criminal offense |
| 88(R) | SB 2161 | 03/09/2023 | Relating to the age limit for a beginning position in a police department under municipal civil service |
| 88(R) | SB 2162 | 03/09/2023 | Relating to county appropriations to historical foundations or organizations |
| 88(R) | SB 2163 | 03/09/2023 | Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of a property that is the primary residence of an adult who has an intellectual or developmental disability and is related to the owner of the property within a certain degree by consanguinity |
| 88(R) | SB 1709 | 03/07/2023 | Relating to the prosecution of the offenses of sedition and engaging in organized criminal activity; increasing criminal penalties |
| 88(R) | SB 1770 | 03/07/2023 | Relating to an exception to required disclosure under the public information law for certain electronic information held by a prosecutor, law enforcement agency, or corrections agency |
| 88(R) | SB 1771 | 03/07/2023 | Relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of property owned by certain electric cooperatives |
| 88(R) | SB 1515 | 03/03/2023 | Relating to the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools |
| 88(R) | SB 1516 | 03/03/2023 | Relating to the procedures for an application for a writ of habeas corpus and the issuance of the writ |
| 88(R) | SB 1517 | 03/03/2023 | Relating to prohibiting certain academic boycotts of foreign countries by public institutions of higher education |
| 88(R) | SB 1518 | 03/03/2023 | Relating to the establishment of a terrorist offender registry and to the supervision of those terrorist offenders; creating criminal offenses related to terrorism |
| 88(R) | SB 1519 | 03/03/2023 | Relating to electric utility weather emergency preparedness |
| 88(R) | SB 1407 | 03/01/2023 | Relating to a severance tax exemption for oil and gas produced from certain restimulation wells; providing a civil penalty |
| 88(R) | SB 1422 | 03/01/2023 | Relating to enforcement of criminal offenses by state agencies, law enforcement agencies, political subdivisions, or local entities |
| 88(R) | SB 1287 | 02/28/2023 | Relating to the cost of interconnecting certain electric generation facilities with the ERCOT transmission system |
