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Editor’s note-The home rule charter for the City of Hillsboro, Texas, a approved by the electorate at a general election held April 4, 1981, is herein set forth. The original arrangement of article and section numbering has been maintained, and the editor has used a uniform system of capitalization. Any future amendments such charter will be incorporated into the affected section and noted by a reference to the amending ordinance parenthetically enclosed following such amended section. In the event provisions of the Home Rule Charter conflict with state law, state law shall supersede charter provisions.
The citizens of the City of Hillsboro, within the corporate limits as now established or as hereafter established in the manner provided by law, shall continue to be a municipal body politic and corporate in perpetuity under the name of the "City of Hillsboro" with such powers, rights and duties as provided by law and herein.
The municipal government provided by this charter shall be known as the "Council-Manager Government." Pursuant to its provision and subject only to the limitations imposed by the State Constitution, the laws of this state and by this charter, all powers of the city shall be vested in an elective council hereinafter referred to as the "city council" or "council," which shall enact local legislation, adopt budgets, determine policies and appoint the city manager, who in turn shall be responsible to the city council for the execution of the laws and the administration of the government of the city. All powers of the city shall be exercised in the manner prescribed by this charter, or if the manner be not prescribed, then in such manner as may be prescribed by ordinance, the State Constitution and/or laws of this state.
The bounds and limits of the City of Hillsboro, Texas are hereby established and described as being those boundaries heretofore established in the original incorporation proceedings of the said City of Hillsboro, Texas, and those boundaries established and changed thereafter in all annexation ordinances and proceedings of the City of Hillsboro, Texas.
The boundaries of the City of Hillsboro may be enlarged and extended by the annexation of additional territory, irrespective of size and configuration, in any of the methods hereinafter designated:
(a) 
Extending limits in accordance with Article 974 of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, as amended: Where such additional territory adjoins the corporate limits of the city and contains three (3) or more inhabitants qualified to vote for members of the state legislature, such adjacent territory may be annexed to the city in the manner and in conformity with the procedure set forth in Article 974 of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, as amended.
(b) 
Annexation of unoccupied lands on petition of owners: The owners or owner of any land which is without residents, or on which less than three (3) voters reside, contiguous and adjacent to the city may, by petition in writing to the city council, request the annexation of such contiguous and adjacent land, describing it by metes and bounds. The city council shall thereafter, and not less than five (5) and not more than thirty (30) days after the filing of such petition, hear such petition and the arguments for and against the same and grant or refuse such petition as the city council may see fit. If the city council grants such petition, it may by proper ordinance receive and annex such territory as part of the city.
(c) 
Annexation by amendment to charter: The boundary limits of the city may be fixed and additional territory added or annexed thereto by amendment to the charter of the city.
(d) 
Extending limits by action of the city council: The city council shall have power by ordinance to fix the boundary limits of the City of Hillsboro and to provide for extension of said boundary limits and the annexation of additional territory lying adjacent to said city, with or without the consent of the residents or the owners of the territory annexed.
(e) 
Annexation by any other method provided by law: Additional territory may also be annexed to the city in any manner and by any procedure that may now be provided by law or that may be hereafter provided by law or in such manner as shall be provided by ordinances or resolutions of the city council. Same shall be in addition to the methods hereinabove provided.
(f) 
Annexed territory to become part of the city: Upon completion of any one of the procedures hereinabove provided, the territory so annexed shall become a part of the city, and said land and its residents and future residents shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of other citizens of the city and shall be bound by the acts, ordinances, resolutions and regulations of the city.
Whenever there exists within the corporate limits of the City of Hillsboro any territory not suitable or necessary for city purposes, and lying adjacent to the corporate limits, the city council may, upon a petition signed by a majority of the qualified voters residing in such territory if the same be inhabited, or without any such petition if the same be uninhabited, by ordinance duly passed, discontinue said territory as a part of said city; said petition and ordinance shall specify accurately the metes and bounds of the territory sought to be eliminated from the city and shall contain a plat designating such territory so that the same can be definitely ascertained; and when said ordinance has been duly passed the same shall be entered upon the minutes and records of said city, and from and after the entry of such ordinance said territory shall cease to be a part of said city, but said territory shall still be liable for its pro rata share of any debts incurred while said area was a part of the city as though the same had not been excluded from the boundaries of the city.