Same—Director designated; duties.
Houston Code of Ordinances § 21-3
in effectSec. 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)
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_ARTIINGE_S21-3SAIRDEDUFetched: 10/26/2026