| (a) Any individual, group, or county historical commission
(CHC) may request removal of an Official Texas Historical Marker ("marker"),
as defined in §21.3 of this title, or a monument ("monument")
within the Commission's jurisdiction, as defined in §26.3 of
this title.
(b) With the exception of monuments that are State
Antiquities Landmarks or included within the boundaries of State Antiquities
Landmarks, which shall follow procedures as described in §191.097
and 191.098 of title 9 of the Natural Resources Code as well as applicable
rules adopted thereunder, requests for removal of a historical marker
or monument shall include:
(1) The name and contact information for the requesting
individual, group, or CHC;
(2) The name and location of the marker or monument
for which removal is requested;
(3) Justification for removal of the marker or monument;
(4) Narrative history and photographs of the marker
or monument;
(5) Written owner consent for removal from the landowner
for sites not located on state land; and
(6) A plan explaining how the marker or monument will
be removed in such a way as to protect its condition and be delivered
to a location approved by THC.
(c) Marker and monument removal requests shall be submitted
to the Commission at 1511 Colorado St., Austin, TX 78701; by mail
to P.O. Box 12276, Austin, TX 78711; or by email to thc@thc.texas.gov.
The Commission will send a copy of the request and supporting materials
to the County Historical Commission (CHC) for the county in which
the marker or monument is located, return receipt requested. In the
absence of a formally-established CHC, a copy will be submitted to
the county judge, return receipt requested.
(d) The CHC or county judge shall have 30 days from
the date of receipt of the request to submit a response to the Commission
if they wish to do so. The CHC or county judge's response shall consist
of not more than 10 single-sided pages of material printed in a font
size no smaller than 11 and shall be signed by the chair of the CHC
or by the county judge.
(e) The Commission's History Programs Committee ("Committee")
shall consider requests for removal of markers and monuments that
are not State Antiquities Landmarks or located within the boundaries
of a State Antiquities Landmarks, including those also governed by §17.2
of this title and §442.008(a) of title 4 of the Government Code.
(f) The Committee shall include the request on the
agenda of its next scheduled meeting, assuming said meeting happens
at least 20 days after the request is received by the Commission or
expiration of the 30-day review period. If the 20-day deadline is
not met, the request shall be on the agenda of the following meeting
of the Committee.
(g) The Committee may choose to take public testimony
on the request. If public testimony is invited, such testimony may
be limited by the Committee chair to a period of time allocated per
speaker.
(h) Upon consideration of a removal request, the Committee
shall make a recommendation to the Commission on whether to approve
or deny the removal request. The recommendation of the Committee shall
be placed on the agenda of the full Commission meeting immediately
following the Committee meeting for approval or denial.
(i) The Commission shall notify the requesting individual,
group, or CHC, and CHC for the county in which the marker or monument
is located of the Commission's decision.
(j) If the request is approved by the Commission, the
person who submitted the removal request must arrange for removal
of the marker or monument in such a way as to protect its condition,
and deliver it to a location approved by THC at the requestor's expense.
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