---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the creation of the Wood Trace Municipal Utility District No. 4 of Montgomery County, Texas; granting a limited power of eminent domain; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments, fees, and taxes."
description: "Relating to the creation of the Wood Trace Municipal Utility District No. 4 of Montgomery County, Texas; granting a limited power of eminent domain; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments, fees, and taxes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "86"
identifier: "HB 1697"
citation: "Texas HB 1697 (86)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["WOOD TRACE MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 4 (D1501)", "MONTGOMERY COUNTY (G1122)", "Special Districts & Authorities--Municipal Utility Districts (I0009)", "Special Districts & Authorities--Water & Utility (I0755)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell, Cecil", "Creighton"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 47
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2019-02-12"
last_action: "2019-06-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/80e63508-3ec3-46ac-baeb-46076ae3356c"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/86R/billhistory/house_bills/HB01600_HB01699/HB 1697.xml"
source_hash: "3697d5b7c162eaccd5b7904d6bfefb74fc59ccdccc1c892e12296e65e8584601"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tx"]
---

# Texas HB 1697 (86) — Relating to the creation of the Wood Trace Municipal Utility District No. 4 of Montgomery County, Texas; granting a limited power of eminent domain; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments, fees, and taxes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/86R/billtext/html/HB01697I.HTM)

## Sponsors

- Bell, Cecil — primary (person)
- Creighton — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-12** Filed `filing`
- **2019-02-13** Transmitted to the Governor
- **2019-03-04** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-03-04** Referred to Land & Resource Management `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-23** Recommendations filed with the Speaker
- **2019-03-26** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-03-26** Amendment(s) considered in committee
- **2019-03-26** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2019-03-26** Recommended to be sent to Local & Consent `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-26** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage`
- **2019-04-01** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
- **2019-04-01** Committee report distributed
- **2019-04-03** Comm. report sent to Local & Consent Calendar
- **2019-04-08** Considered in Local & Consent Calendars
- **2019-04-12** Placed on Local, Consent, and Res. Calendar
- **2019-04-12** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2019-04-12** Passed to engrossment
- **2019-04-12** Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-04-12** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2019-04-12** Passed `passage`
- **2019-04-12** Record vote
- **2019-04-12** Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-04-12** Reported engrossed
- **2019-04-15** Received from the House `introduction`
- **2019-04-16** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-04-16** Referred to Intergovernmental Relations `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-14** Posting rule suspended
- **2019-05-14** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-05-15** Reported favorably w/o amendments `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-05-15** Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
- **2019-05-15** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2019-05-22** Placed on local & uncontested calendar
- **2019-05-22** Laid before the Senate
- **2019-05-22** Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading
- **2019-05-22** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-05-22** Three day rule suspended
- **2019-05-22** Record vote
- **2019-05-22** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2019-05-22** Passed `passage`
- **2019-05-22** Record vote
- **2019-05-23** Senate passage reported
- **2019-05-24** Reported enrolled
- **2019-05-26** Signed in the House
- **2019-05-27** Signed in the Senate
- **2019-05-28** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-06-10** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-06-10** Effective immediately

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/80e63508-3ec3-46ac-baeb-46076ae3356c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).