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Tex. Local Government Code § 51.003

This is the official text of Tex. Local Government Code § 51.003, part of Texas’s Local Government Code — governs the powers and operations of Texas cities and counties.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

§ 51.003. MUNICIPAL ACT OR PROCEEDING PRESUMED VALID.

Official statutory text

(a) A governmental act or proceeding of a municipality is conclusively presumed, as of the date it occurred, to be valid and to have occurred in accordance with all applicable statutes and ordinances if:

(1) the third anniversary of the effective date of the act or proceeding has expired; and

(2) a lawsuit to annul or invalidate the act or proceeding has not been filed on or before that third anniversary.

(b) This section does not apply to:

(1) an act or proceeding that was void at the time it occurred;

(2) an act or proceeding that, under a statute of this state or the United States, was a misdemeanor or felony at the time the act or proceeding occurred;

(3) an incorporation or attempted incorporation of a municipality, or an annexation or attempted annexation of territory by a municipality, within the incorporated boundaries or extraterritorial jurisdiction of another municipality that occurred without the consent of the other municipality in violation of Chapter 42 or 43;

(4) an ordinance that, at the time it was passed, was preempted by a statute of this state or the United States, including Section 1.06 or 109.57, Alcoholic Beverage Code; or

(5) a matter that on the effective date of this section:

(A) is involved in litigation if the litigation ultimately results in the matter being held invalid by a final judgment of a court; or

(B) has been held invalid by a final judgment of a court.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.