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IN GENERAL

Houston Code of Ordinances ch. 21, art. I
in effect

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-1 Definitions.

Sec. 21-1. - Definitions. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning: Department means the Houston Health Department. Director means the director of public health. (Ord. No. 2015-820, § 18, 8-26-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-2 Houston Health Department—Created; general duties.

Sec. 21-2. - Houston Health Department—Created; general duties. There is created the Houston Health Department. The officers and employees of that department are charged with the duty of enforcing all laws and ordinances relating to health and such other duties as are now or may hereafter be placed upon them by the mayor, city council and by the ordinances and Charter of the city. Any reference in this Code to the "health department," the "area agency on aging," the "health and human services department," or the "health and human resources department" of the city shall mean a reference to the Houston Health Department. (Code 1968, § 21-1; Ord. No. 85-889, § 1, 6-13-85; Ord. No. 85-1190, § 1, 7-17-85; Ord. No. 2015-820, § 18, 8-26-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-3 Same—Director designated; duties.

Sec. 21-3. - Same—Director designated; duties. (a) The director of public health shall be the director of the Houston Health Department. For the purposes of this Code, the terms "director of public health," "director of health," "director of health and human services," "director of health and human resources," and "director of the area agency on aging" shall be synonymous. The director of public health shall coordinate the activities and recommendations of the mayor, the Texas Department of State Health Services and the United States Public Health Service. (b) It shall be the duty of the director of public health to enforce all laws, ordinances and regulations pertaining to public health, to enforce regulations necessary for the occupational health of commercial and industrial workers, and to perform all public health services provided for by the laws of the state and the ordinances and Charter of the City. He shall direct the Houston Health Department, and all employees thereof shall be under his immediate direction and control. The director is hereby authorized to prescribe the duties of each employee and change such duties from time to time as he sees fit. The director may delegate the supervision of various functions of the Houston Health Department to such of the employees of such department as he may designate. He shall have authority to remove any nonclassified employee from the Houston Health Department for cause. (c) No provision of this Code shall be construed as requiring the director of public health to be a licensed physician in Texas. If the person serving in that position is not a licensed physician, then, as provided by Section 121.033 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, the director of public health shall appoint another person who is a licensed physician in Texas as the 'health authority' for the jurisdiction, subject to confirmation by city council. Consistent with state law, any function that devolves upon the director of public health and is required to be performed by a licensed physician shall be performed by the health authority instead of the director of public health if the director is not a licensed physician. (Code 1968, § 21-2; Ord. No. 85-889, § 2, 6-13-85; Ord. No. 85-1190, § 2, 7-17-85; Ord. No. 04-684, § 1, 6-30-04; Ord. No. 2015-820, § 18, 8-26-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-4 Appointment of officers and employees and contract personnel of Houston Health Department generally.

Sec. 21-4. - Appointment of officers and employees and contract personnel of Houston Health Department generally. The director shall be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council. All other officers and employees of the department, not exempted from civil service by article V-a of the Charter, shall be appointed in accordance with such article V-a, except as otherwise specifically provided. The director shall have authority to pass upon the qualifications, efficiency and fitness of all employees in the Houston Health Department, and no person shall be employed in the Houston Health Department until the director has approved his employment. (Code 1968, § 21-4; Ord. No. 77-501, § 1, 3-15-77; Ord. No. 78-2200, § 1, 11-1-78; Ord. No. 92-289, § 1, 3-18-92; Ord. No. 2015-820, § 18, 8-26-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-5 Appointment of acting director.

Sec. 21-5. - Appointment of acting director. The mayor is authorized from time to time to appoint one of the division heads in the department to act in the capacity of director when the person duly appointed to fill such position is absent from duty. (Code 1968, § 21-5)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-6 Auxiliary health inspectors.

Sec. 21-6. - Auxiliary health inspectors. Whenever, in the mayor's judgment, the state of the public health demands such action, the mayor is empowered to appoint any employee of the city in any department as an auxiliary health inspector in addition to his other duties. Any such auxiliary health inspector so appointed shall be considered an inspector of the department and shall have all the powers and duties of same. (Code 1968, § 21-6)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-7 Employee qualifications.

Sec. 21-7. - Employee qualifications. The holders of all the positions in the department shall possess qualifications in accordance with the standards heretofore laid down for persons performing public health functions, such standards having been approved and recommended by the state and territorial health officers and the Texas Department of State Health Services. All new employees appointed to any of such positions must meet all minimum requirements as set up by the state and territorial health officers and the Texas Department of State Health Services. (Code 1968, § 21-7; Ord. No. 2015-820, § 19, 8-26-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-8 Medical examinations to identify diseases.

Sec. 21-8. - Medical examinations to identify diseases. Whenever it shall be deemed necessary by the health officer to establish the true character of any disease which is suspected to be communicable, a medical examination of the person affected by such disease may be ordered by such officer. Any person interfering with or refusing to permit such examination shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. (Code 1968, § 21-8)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-11 Annual report of director.

Sec. 21-11. - Annual report of director. The director shall make an annual report to the mayor and city council at the end of the fiscal year, which report shall cover the entire work of the department for the preceding year. (Code 1968, § 21-19)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-13 International travel immunizations.

Sec. 21-13. - International travel immunizations. As a convenience to persons who may wish to engage in international travel, the director may offer immunization vaccinations that are not generally made available by local physicians but are required or recommended for persons traveling to certain foreign countries, including, but not limited to, cholera, typhoid and yellow fever immunizations. The fee for each vaccination that is administered, including any certificate provided therewith, shall be an amount equal to the city's cost of purchase of the vaccine plus the fee stated for this provision in the city fee schedule to cover the associated costs for providing the service and administering the vaccine. (Code 1968, § 21-140; Ord. No. 78-1131, § 1, 6-6-78; Ord. No. 78-2488, § 1, 12-12-78; Ord. No. 90-1404, § 1, 11-28-90; Ord. No. 95-23, § 1, 1-4-95; Ord. No. 98-1111, § 1, 12-2-98; Ord. No. 2011-1168, § 13, 12-14-2011)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-14 Fees charged for goods or services.

Sec. 21-14. - Fees charged for goods or services. (a) The director of the public health is hereby authorized to charge and collect fees for goods or services provided by the department, provided that no person shall be denied goods or service because of his or her inability to pay for it. All fees charged pursuant to this section shall be set out in the city fee schedule. The director shall consider the actual costs, direct and indirect, of the goods and services provided when recommending to the city council fees to be charged pursuant to this section. (b) All laboratory fees charged and revenues collected shall be retained by the Houston Health Department to defray a portion of the costs associated with the purchase, maintenance, operation, and utilization of the city laboratories, including but not limited to, infrastructure, equipment, supplies, software, and hardware systems, and with performing public health surveillance tests. By 60 days following the end of each fiscal year, any amount of money in the laboratory operations and maintenance fund's current fiscal year-end fund balance that is in excess of four months of the average of the previous three fiscal years' audited expenditures less debt from the current fiscal year's ending fund balance, may be appropriated by city council and transferred to the general fund fund balance for general city expenditures, as needed. (Ord. No. 85-570, § 1, 4-23-85; Ord. No. 85-2159, § 1, 12-17-85; Ord. No. 08-1171, §§ 2, 3, 12-17-08; Ord. No. 2011-1168, § 13, 12-14-2011; Ord. No. 2015-820, §§ 20, 33, 34, 8-26-2015; Ord. No. 2019-447, § 10, 6-12-2019)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-15 Fees charged pursuant to grants.

Sec. 21-15. - Fees charged pursuant to grants. If the city is required to charge fees for goods or services provided by the Houston Health Department pursuant to the terms of a state or federal grant accepted by ordinance, then the director is hereby authorized to charge and collect fees in accordance with the terms of the grant. (Ord. No. 85-1517, § 1, 8-28-85; Ord. No. 08-1171, § 4, 12-17-08; Ord. No. 2011-1168, § 13, 12-14-2011; Ord. No. 2015-820, §§ 20, 34, 8-26-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-16 Public health internships.

Sec. 21-16. - Public health internships. (a) A health education institution wishing to sponsor a public health internship program for its nursing or other health curricula shall make written application to the director on a form promulgated by him and approved by the legal department. No other form shall be used to establish terms and conditions for public health internship programs. The director shall review each application for compliance with the terms of this section. If the application is on compliance, the director may approve it, subject to the resource and budgetary constraints of the Houston Health Department. The director may reject an application if the proposed program would interfere with the city's program for delivery of public health care services. If there are more complying applications than can be approved due to budgetary or resource constraints, the director shall rank and approve applications in order of their benefits to the city's program for delivery of public health care services. The director may require, as a condition of approving an application, that the sponsoring institution provide a faculty member to accompany the intern or interns during clinical experience. (b) All health education institutions wishing to sponsor interns in a public health internship program with the department must furnish to the department's office of quality assurance and continuing education a copy of a professional liability insurance policy in the amount of $300,000.00 per occurrence covering each intern and supervising faculty member provided by the sponsoring institution during his or her internship or during supervision or instruction given during the internship. The director may waive this insurance requirement for any intern if he determines that the intern will have no patient contact. The director may condition approval of an application upon the sponsoring institution's furnishing such policy 14 days prior to the start of the internship program. Unless waived by the director pursuant to this subsection, no intern shall be allowed to commence his or her internship without a copy of an insurance policy with coverage in compliance with this subsection on file with the office of quality assurance and continuing education. (c) All books, manuals, and other educational materials and faculty required by the internship program shall be provided by the intern or the sponsoring institution at no cost to the city. (d) The director shall establish general administrative procedures for public health internship programs including procedures for attendance verification, absences of interns because of illness, and unsatisfactory or unprofessional conduct of interns. The director may terminate an individual internship or an internship program for failure to comply with the administrative procedures established under this subsection. The director shall furnish the city secretary with a current copy of the procedures and shall maintain a copy in his offices at the Houston Health Department for public inspection. (Ord. No. 85-943, § 1, 6-25-85; Ord. No. 86-640, § 1, 5-13-86; Ord. No. 2015-820, § 34, 8-26-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-17 Cigarette vending machines.

Sec. 21-17. - Cigarette vending machines. (a) As used in this section the following words and terms shall have the meanings herein ascribed: (1) Bar means an establishment that derives 50 percent or more of its gross revenues from the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption. (2) Cigarette means: a. Any roll of tobacco wrapped in paper or in any substance not containing tobacco; and b. Any roll of tobacco wrapped in any substance containing tobacco which, because of its appearance, the type of tobacco used in the filler, or its packaging and labeling, is likely to be offered to, or purchased by, consumers as a cigarette described in item (2)a., above. (3) Cigarette vending machine means any self-service device which, upon insertion of coin(s), paper currency, token(s), card(s) or key(s) or any other item(s) dispenses one or more cigarettes, as defined above, provided that the term shall neither be deemed to include any machine that is in storage, in transit or otherwise not set up for use and operation nor be deemed to include any machine that is situated on a train, bus or other public conveyance. (4) Restaurant bar means any area of a restaurant excluding the dining area, that is primarily devoted to the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests on the premises and in which food service, if any, is only incidental to the consumption of such beverages. (b) Subject to the defenses provided in subsection (c), below, it shall be unlawful for any person either to own or to suffer or allow the display or use of any cigarette vending machine upon any property within the city. (c) It is a defense to prosecution under the provisions of this section that: (1) The cigarette vending machine is situated in a premises where entry by any person under 18 years of age is prohibited by law; or (2) The cigarette vending machine is situated in a hotel, a motel, a bar or a restaurant bar; or (3) The cigarette vending machine is located in a workplace with the permission of the employer, provided that the employer has no persons under the age of 18 employed at the workplace, and further provided that the cigarette vending machine is situated at a location within the workplace to which persons other than those employed at the workplace are not permitted to have access. (d) An offense under this section is a class C misdemeanor as defined by the Texas Penal Code. (Ord. No. 91-427, § 2, 3-27-91)
Source: City of Houston, Code of Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/houston/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH21HE_ARTIINGEFetched: 10/26/2026

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