Legal Services

	"A tornado ripped through our county a few days ago. We just got done surveying all the damage, and it's not good. There's one structure in particular that is barely standing, and there's loose electrical wires everywhere. Can the county demolish it?"

In the aftermath of a disaster, does the county have authority to demolish certain buildings that are deemed to be hazardous?

Yes, possibly. Pursuant to its nuisance abatement authority, a county may seek to demolish a building that is being maintained in a manner that is structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, health, or public welfare because of inadequate maintenance, unsanitary conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage, or abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard. Tex. Health & Safety Code, Chapter 343. For more information, see our publication Weathering the Storm: Disaster Preparedness and Response.