The Supreme Court of Texas last week revived a dismissed case filed against the City of College Station in an opinion that could be a bellwether for the future of a 2023 law governing extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJ) and the authority of the state to rein in local government.
“Texans have long permitted the legislature to determine, subject to constitutional limits, when an individual’s private-property rights must yield to the public interest in health, safety, and welfare. But in our republican form of government, the legislature retains the power to bring local government to heel and in all things remains accountable to the people for its judgment,” wrote Justice John Devine in the majority opinion issued Friday.
