GENERAL PROVISIONS

Dallas City Code ch. 1

in effect

Dallas City Code § 1-1 HOW CODE DESIGNATED AND CITED.

SEC. 1-1. HOW CODE DESIGNATED AND CITED. The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters and sections shall constitute and be designated “The Revised Code of Civil and Criminal Ordinances of the City of Dallas” and may be so cited. Such code may also be cited as the “Dallas City Code.”

Dallas City Code § 1-2 PROVISIONS CONSIDERED AS CONTINUATION OF EXISTING ORDINANCES.

SEC. 1-2. PROVISIONS CONSIDERED AS CONTINUATION OF EXISTING ORDINANCES. The provisions appearing in this and the following chapters and sections, so far as they are the same as those of ordinances existing at the time of the adoption of “The Revised Code of Civil and Criminal Ordinances of the City of Dallas”, shall be considered as a continuation thereof and not as new enactments.

Dallas City Code § 1-3 CATCHLINES OF SECTIONS.

SEC. 1-3. CATCHLINES OF SECTIONS. The catchlines of the several sections of this code printed in boldface type are intended as mere catchwords to indicate the contents of the section and shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of such sections, nor as any part of the section, nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be so deemed when any of such sections, including the catchlines, are amended or re-enacted.

Dallas City Code § 1-4 SEVERABILITY OF PARTS OF CODE.

SEC. 1-4. SEVERABILITY OF PARTS OF CODE. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the city council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, and phrases of this code are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this code shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this code, since the same would have been enacted by the city council without the incorporation in this code, of any such unconstitutional or invalid phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.

Dallas City Code § 1-5 RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

SEC. 1-5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. In the construction of this code, and of all ordinances and resolutions passed by the city council, the following rules contained in this section shall be observed, unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the council: BOND. When a bond is required, an undertaking in writing is sufficient if properly drafted and executed. CITY. The words “city,” “the city,” or “this city” mean the city of Dallas, Texas. CITY HEALTH AUTHORITY, CITY HEALTH OFFICER, AND DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH. The words “city health authority,” “city health officer,” and “director of public health” shall be construed to mean the director of the Dallas County Health Authority. CITY SECRETARY, CHIEF OF POLICE or OTHER CITY OFFICERS OR DEPARTMENTS. The words “city secretary”, “chief of police” or words designating any “other city officers or departments” shall be construed to mean the city secretary, chief of police or such other municipal officers or departments, respectively, of the city of Dallas, Texas. CODE. The words “the code” or “this code” shall mean “The Revised Code of Civil and Criminal Ordinances of the City of Dallas.” COMPUTATION OF TIME. In construing this code, whenever a notice is required to be given or an act to be done a certain length of time before any proceeding or step in a proceeding shall be had, the day on which such notice is given, or such act is done, shall be counted in computing the time, but the day on which such proceeding or step in a proceeding is to be had shall not be counted. CONVICTION means a conviction in a federal court or a court of any state or foreign nation or political subdivision of a state or foreign nation that has not been reversed, vacated, or pardoned. COUNCIL. The words “the council” or “the city council” shall mean the mayor and councilmen acting as the city council of Dallas, Texas. DALLAS DEVELOPMENT CODE. The words “Dallas Development Code” mean Chapters 51, 51A, and 51P. GENDER. A word importing the masculine gender only shall extend and be applied to include females and to firms, partnerships and corporations as well as to males. HIGHWAY. The term “highway”, when used in this code, shall include any street, alley, highway, avenue or public place or square, bridges, viaducts, tunnels, underpasses, overpasses and causeways in the city, dedicated or devoted to public use. JOINT AUTHORITY. Words purporting to give authority to three or more officers or other persons shall be construed as giving such authority to a majority of such officers or other persons, unless it is otherwise declared. MONTH. The word “month” shall mean a calendar month. NUMBER. Any word importing the singular number shall include the plural, and any word importing the plural number shall include the singular. OATH. The word “oath” shall be construed to include an affirmation in all cases in which by law an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in such cases the words “swear” and “sworn” shall be equivalent to the words “affirm” and “affirmed”. OFFICIAL TIME STANDARD. Whenever certain hours are named in this code, they shall mean Standard Time or Daylight Saving Time, as may be in current use in the city. OR, AND. “Or” may be read “and,” and “and” may be read “or,” if the sense requires it. OWNER. The word “owner”, applied to a building or land, shall include any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership, joint tenant or tenant by the entirety, of the whole or of a part of such building or land. PERSON. The word “person” shall extend and be applied to associations, corporations, firms, partnerships and bodies politic and corporate as well as to individuals. PERSONAL PROPERTY. The words “personal property” include every species of property, except real property, as defined in this section. PRECEDING, FOLLOWING. The words “preceding” and “following” mean next before and next after, respectively. PROPERTY. The word “property” includes real and personal property. REAL PROPERTY. The words “real property” include land, tenements and hereditaments. ROADWAY. The word “roadway” shall mean that portion of a street improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic and that portion of a street used for drainage. SIDEWALK. The word “sidewalk” shall mean any portion of the street between the curb or the lateral line of the roadway and the adjacent property line, all or a part of which is intended for the use of pedestrians. SIDEWALK AREA. The space between the lateral line of the roadway and the boundary separating the public right-of-way and the adjacent private property. SIGNATURE or SUBSCRIPTION. The words “signature” or “subscription” shall include a mark when a person cannot write. STATE. The words “the state” or “this state” shall be construed to mean the State of Texas. STREET. The term “street” shall include any highway, boulevard, alley, street, avenue or public place or square, bridges, viaducts, culverts, underpasses, overpasses, tunnels and causeways in the city, dedicated or devoted to public use. WRITTEN or IN WRITING. The words “written” or “in writing” shall be construed to include any representation other than oral of words, letters or figures, whether by printing or otherwise. YEAR. The word “year” shall mean a calendar year. (Ord. Nos. 18828; 19455; 24637; 25371; 33224)

Dallas City Code § 1-5.1 CULPABLE MENTAL STATE.

SEC. 1-5.1. CULPABLE MENTAL STATE. (a) A culpable mental state is not required for the commission of an offense under this code or another city ordinance that is punishable by a fine not exceeding $500, unless the provision defining the conduct expressly requires a culpable mental state. (b) In accordance with Section 6.02 of the Texas Penal Code and notwithstanding any code or ordinance provision to the contrary, a culpable mental state is required for the commission of an offense under this code or another city ordinance that is punishable by a fine exceeding $500. (c) When a culpable mental state is required for the commission of an offense under this code or another city ordinance, a person must have acted knowingly or with knowledge, unless the provision defining the conduct expressly requires a different degree of culpability. (d) A person acts knowingly, or with knowledge, with respect to the nature of his conduct or to circumstances surrounding his conduct when he is aware of the nature of his conduct or that the circumstances exist. A person acts knowingly, or with knowledge, with respect to a result of his conduct when he is aware that his conduct is reasonably certain to cause the result. (Ord. Nos. 15105; 19455; 26274)

Dallas City Code § 1-6 AMENDMENTS OR ADDITIONS TO CODE; PRINTING.

SEC. 1-6. AMENDMENTS OR ADDITIONS TO CODE; PRINTING. (a) All ordinances of a general and permanent nature, and amendments to such ordinances, hereinafter enacted or presented to the city council for enactment shall be drafted, so far as possible, as specific amendments of, or additions to, the “Dallas City Code,” and when done shall be part of the code. Amendments to this code shall be made by reference to the chapter and section of the code which is to be amended, and additions shall bear an appropriate designation of chapter and section. For clarity in reading amendments to the code, any language intended to be added to the code may be underscored in the amending ordinance, and any language intended to be deleted from the code may be inserted in its appropriate place in brackets and stricken through. These markings, when used, and the deleted portions shall be removed when amendments are printed in the code. (b) A separate volume or volumes shall be added to the Dallas City Code and shall contain the city’s Building Code, Mechanical Code, Plumbing Code, and Electrical Code along with applicable administrative provisions. (c) Chapters 1 through 51A of the code shall be maintained by the city attorney on a word processing system so that the code, as it exists on the system, is continuously updated as amendments to the code are adopted by the city council. The city attorney shall periodically cause supplements to the code to be printed, but not less than once each year. When the supply of code books becomes short or when supplements become so numerous as to make handling and selling of the code difficult, the city attorney may cause the entire code to be reprinted in an up-to-date form with all amendments included. (d) When a supplement to the code is printed from the word processing system maintained by the city attorney or when the entire code is reprinted from this system, the supplement or code so printed shall be deemed the official supplement or code of the city without further action of the city council and shall be admitted as evidence in court without further proof. (Ord. Nos. 15904; 18828; 19455)

Dallas City Code § 1-7 DISANNEXATION - APPLICATION.

SEC. 1-7. DISANNEXATION - APPLICATION. (a) When any territory exists, to the extent of at least three acres, contiguous, unimproved and adjoining the lines of the city, the city council may, by ordinance duly passed, discontinue such territory as a part of the city, provided the application for such discontinuance or disannexation shall set forth in writing the territory desired to be discontinued and describe the territory desired to be discontinued by metes and bounds as in the case of annexation of territory provided by the charter. (b) Subsection (a) shall not be construed as limiting the authority of the city to make mutually agreeable boundary changes with other municipalities in accordance with state law. (Code 1941, Art. 29-1; Ord. 20059)

Dallas City Code § 1-8 SAME - PROCEDURE.

SEC. 1-8. SAME - PROCEDURE. When the ordinance provided for in the preceding section has been duly passed, the city council shall cause to be entered an order to such effect on the minutes of the council. From and after the entry of such order, such territory shall cease to be part of the city; provided, that the city council may exercise its own discretion with reference to discontinuing any part of such territory and in no case shall any territory be discontinued, except on the application of the owner or owners of such territory and where the metes and bounds of the territory that is sought to be discontinued are clearly set forth in such application; provided further, that all applications for the discontinuance of any territory shall be in writing as provided in this section, and approved by the city engineer’s and the city attorney’s departments. (Code 1941, Art. 29-2)

Dallas City Code § 1-9 NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNERS; PRESUMPTION OF OWNERSHIP.

SEC. 1-9. NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNERS; PRESUMPTION OF OWNERSHIP. (a) Whenever the city is required by statute, rule, regulation, or ordinance to send a notice to an owner of real property for the purpose of enforcing a provision of this code, the notice may include the following statement: “According to the real property records of County, you own the real property described in this notice. If you no longer own the property, you must execute an affidavit stating that you no longer own the property and stating the name and last known address of the person who acquired the property from you. The affidavit must be delivered in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to this office not later than the 20th day after the date you receive this notice. If you do not send the affidavit, it will be presumed that you own the property described in this notice, even if you do not.” (b) The notice described in Subsection (a) must be delivered in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested. (c) If the city sends a notice to the owner of the property to which the notice relates, as shown by the real property records of the county in which the property is located on or after the 10th day before the date the notice is sent, and the record owner no longer owns the property, the record owner shall execute an affidavit provided by the city with the notice stating: (1) that the record owner no longer owns the property; and (2) the name and last known address of the person who acquired the property from the record owner. (d) The record owner shall deliver the affidavit in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the city not later than the 20th day after the date the record owner receives the notice. (e) If the city receives an affidavit under Subsection (d), the city shall send the appropriate notice to the person named in the affidavit as having acquired the property. A notice sent under this subsection must include the statement authorized by Subsection (a). (f) Upon receiving an affidavit under Subsection (d), the city shall: (1) maintain the affidavit on file for at least two years after the date the affidavit was received; and (2) deliver a copy of the affidavit to the chief appraiser of the appraisal district in which the property is located. (g) The city is considered to have provided notice to a property owner if the city complies with the statute, rule, regulation, or ordinance under which the notice is sent and if the city complies with: (1) Subsection (a) and does not receive an affidavit from the record owner; or (2) Subsection (e) and does not receive an affidavit from the person to whom the notice was sent under Subsection (e). (h) If the city complies with this section and does not receive an affidavit under Subsection (d), the record owner is presumed to be the owner of the property for all purposes to which the notice relates. (i) For purposes of this section, “real property” does not include a mineral interest or royalty interest. (Ord. 21025)

Dallas City Code § 1-10 RESERVED. (Ord. No. 31872)

Dallas City Code § 1-11 STANDARD OF JUDICIAL REVIEW FOR CITY BOARD AND COMMISSION DECISIONS.

SEC. 1-11. STANDARD OF JUDICIAL REVIEW FOR CITY BOARD AND COMMISSION DECISIONS. Whenever this code or another city ordinance provides that a person may appeal a decision of a city board or commission to district court, the appeal is limited to a hearing under the substantial evidence rule unless expressly provided otherwise by this code, another city ordinance, the city charter, or state or federal law. (Ord. 23227)

Source: City of Dallas, Dallas City Code and City Charter (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/dallas/latest/dallas_tx/0-0-0-133465Fetched: 10/26/2026