Appeals.
Houston Code of Ordinances § 11-71
in effectSec. 11-71. - Appeals.
(a) Appeal; written request required. A person may appeal the denial or revocation of an alarm permit by delivering a written request for an appeal to the director not later than 30 days after the first date of mailing written notice of denial or revocation.
(b) Hearing officer. All appeal hearings shall be held by a hearing officer appointed by the director. The director shall not designate any person to perform the duties of appeal hearing officer under this section who has participated in the investigation of false alarms from the alarm site in question or has prior knowledge of the particular allegations or circumstances discovered in such investigation. The appeal hearing officer may, prior to the hearing, receive a copy of the notice given to the permit holder or applicant.
(c) Assistant city attorney. An assistant city attorney may be present at the hearing to advise the appeal hearing officer as to procedural matters; however, that assistant city attorney shall not participate in any determination of the facts.
(d) Conduct of hearing; rules and procedures. All appeal hearings shall be informal and conducted under rules established by the director consistent with the informal nature of the proceedings; provided, however, the following rules shall apply to all appeal hearings conducted under this section:
(1) All parties shall have the right to representation by an attorney licensed to practice in Texas, though an attorney is not required.
(2) Each party may present witnesses in his own behalf.
(3) Each party shall have the right to cross examine all witnesses.
(4) The appeal hearing officer shall consider only the evidence presented at the appeal hearing in rendering a final decision.
(e) Authority of hearing officer. The appeal hearing officer may affirm or reverse an alarm permit denial or revocation; however, no proceeding under this section may be used to address or reconsider whether an alarm signal was false or generated from a non-permitted alarm system. The exclusive remedy for determining whether an alarm was false or non-permitted shall be the review process established in section 11-68(f)—(k) of this Code.
(f) Decision of the hearing officer. The decision of the hearing officer shall be final.
(Ord. No. 08-387, § 2, 4-30-08; Ord. No. 2019-189, §§ 16, 17, 3-27-2019)
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_CH11BUFIALPRSE_ARTIIIBUALPAALOTSIALSY_S11-71APFetched: 10/26/2026