By Narita Holmes,Former Ector County Purchasing Agent
Are you seeing double? No! There really are two Chapter 2267 sections in the Texas Government Code that have an impact on counties. During the Regular Session of the 82nd Texas Legislature in 2011, two separate bills were passed with the same chapter number in the Government Code. Both sections deal with construction, and both apply to counties.
The first section repealed the law that previously governed construction methods for counties that was located in the Local Government Code, Chapter 271. The new law is located in the Government Code, the first Chapter 2267. When the move of the law was made, previous county law was combined with laws that applied to other governmental entities, and wording and order were changed from what we were accustomed to finding in our old law. For construction projects started after Sept. 1, 2011, the new wording applies. Counties should be careful on any new projects bid after that date to ensure that your specifications comply with the new (first) Government Code, Chapter 2267. Use of wording in old specifications developed prior to the change could leave you out of compliance with the new law. The second Chapter 2267 deals with public/private partnerships for qualifying facilities and infrastructure.
Next month, we’ll examine the second Government Code, Chapter 2267. The focus of this article is on the first Government Code, Chapter 2267.This new law repealed Subchapters H and J, Chapter 271 in the Local Government Code, which provided counties options for various methods of acquiring construction services. At first glance, it appears that the law was just moved to a new location. However, a careful comparison reveals changes that will impact specifications for construction projects started after Sept. 1, 2011. A few of these changes are summarized below (CAPS added for emphasis). This is not a complete list of changes.
