Senate committee considers committee substitute for Senate Bill 211 to move disputed dilapidated-structure hearings to magistrate court; bill laid over

A Senate committee on an unspecified date took up a committee substitute for Senate Bill 211, a measure that would change the hearing venue when a property owner contests a county enforcement agency’s finding that a building is dilapidated.

Counsel for the committee summarized the substitute, saying, “This bill amends a single section of code concerning the authority of county commissions. This code section, which is 7 dash 1, adopt ordinances for identifying and remediating such conditions and, if needed, recovering the cost of the remediation. … If the owner disputes the complaint, the County Commission conducts a hearing and makes findings of fact and conclusions of law.” Counsel later added, “Senate Bill 2 11 amends that hearing process … making the magistrate court the body before which the hearing is conducted.”

The substitute…