Tex.
Local Gov't Code Section 42.156
Voluntary Release
(b)
A municipality having a claim of extraterritorial jurisdiction to the overlapping area may bring an action as plaintiff in the district court of the judicial district in which the largest municipality having a claim to the area is located. The plaintiff municipality must name as a defendant each municipality having a claim of extraterritorial jurisdiction to the area and must request the court to apportion the area among the affected municipalities. In apportioning the area, the court shall consider population densities, patterns of growth, transportation, topography, and land use in the municipalities and the overlapping area. The area must be apportioned among the municipalities:(1)
so that each municipality’s part is contiguous to the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality or, if the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality is totally overlapped, is contiguous to the boundaries of the municipality;(2)
so that each municipality’s part is in a substantially compact shape; and(3)
in the same ratio, to one decimal, that the respective populations of the municipalities bear to each other, but with each municipality receiving at least one-tenth of the area.(c)
An apportionment under this section must consider existing property lines. A tract of land or adjoining tracts of land that were under one ownership on August 23, 1963, and that do not exceed 160 acres may not be apportioned so as to be in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of more than one municipality unless the landowner gives written consent to that apportionment.
Source:
Section 42.156 — Voluntary Release, https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.42.htm#42.156
(accessed Jun. 5, 2024).