SECTION 20.600. Denial of State Grant Funds for Local Entities that Prohibit or Discourage Enforcement of Public Camping Ban

(a) This section implements Local Government Code, §364.004 (Denial of State Grant Funds).

(b) This section applies to local entities applying for state grant funds and state agencies awarding state grant funds to local entities.

(c) The terms "local entity," "policy," and "public camping ban" in this section are defined as they are in Local Government Code, Title 11, §364.001.

(d) A local entity may not receive state grant funds, and state grant funds for the local entity must be denied, for the state fiscal year following the year in which a final judicial determination in an action brought by the Attorney General under Local Government Code, §364.003 is made that the entity has intentionally adopted or enforced a policy that prohibited or discouraged the enforcement of a public camping ban.

(e) A local entity applying for state grant funds must affirm in its application that it is not prohibited from receiving state grant funds under Local Government Code, §364.004.

(f) A local entity applying for state grant funds must disclose in its application whether the local entity has been sued by the Attorney General under Local Government Code, §364.003, and if so, the current posture of the lawsuit.

(g) In the event that a local entity receiving state grant funds is sued by the Attorney General under Local Government Code, §364.003 or such a case reaches a final judicial determination, the local entity must immediately disclose the lawsuit or judicial determination to all state agencies that oversee programs from which the entity currently receives state grant funds.

(h) A state agency that awards state grant funds must include appropriate assurances in grant applications and grant agreements to ensure that local entities comply with the provisions contained in this section. A state agency must document that the local entity has made such assurances before initiating any payment of state grant funds to the local entity.

Source Note: The provisions of this §20.600 adopted to be effective May 1, 2022, 47 TexReg 2563