(A) 
The City of Levelland, made a body politic and corporate by the legal adoption of this Charter, shall be perpetual succession; may use a common seal; may sue and be sued; may contract and be contracted with; may implead and be impleaded in all courts having jurisdiction of the subject matter involved; may take, hold and purchase such lands, within or without the City Limits, as may be needed for corporate purposes of said City, and may sell real estate or personal property owned by it; perform and render all public services and when deemed expedient, may condemn property for corporate use, and may hold, manage and control the same; and shall be subject to all the duties and obligations now pertaining to or incumbent upon said City as a corporation, not in conflict with the provisions of this Charter; and shall enjoy all rights, immunities, powers, privileges and franchises now possessed by said City and herein conferred and granted; and except as prohibited by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas or restricted by this Charter, the City of Levelland shall have and may exercise all municipal powers, functions, rights, privileges and immunities of every name and nature whatsoever. In addition to the powers herein otherwise granted, the City of Levelland shall have the powers enumerated in Article No. 1175, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, as heretofore amended and as it may hereafter be amended, as though such Statute were fully set forth herein.
(B) 
The enumeration of particular powers by this Charter shall not be held or deemed to be exclusive, but, in addition to the powers enumerated herein or implied thereby, or appropriate to the exercise of such powers, it is intended that the City of Levelland shall have, and may exercise, all powers which under the Constitution and Statutes of Texas it would be competent for this Charter specifically to enumerate. All powers of the City, whether expressed or implied, shall be exercised in the manner prescribed by this Charter or, if not prescribed herein, then in the manner provided by ordinance or resolution of the City Council.
The City of Levelland shall have the power to enact and enforce all lawful ordinances necessary to protect health, life and property, and to prevent and summarily abate and remove all nuisances, and preserve and enforce good Government and order and security of the City of Levelland and it's inhabitants; and to enact and enforce lawful ordinances on any and all subjects; provided that no ordinance shall be enacted inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter, Laws and the Constitution of the State of Texas; it being the intentions to obtain, by the adoption of this Charter, full powers of local self-government granted to cities having more than 5,000 inhabitants by what is known as the Home Rule Amendment to the Constitution of the State of Texas, and to the Home Rule Enabling Act, passed by the Legislature of Texas and now known as Chapter 13, Title 28, of the Revised Civil Statutes of the State of Texas, and the amendments thereto.
All real estate owned in fee simple title, or held by lease, sufferance, easement or otherwise, all public buildings, fire stations, parks, airports, streets, and alleys; and all property, whether real or personal, of whatever kind, character or description, now owned or controlled by the City of Levelland, shall vest in, inure to, remain and be the property of said City of Levelland under this Charter; and all causes of action, chooses in action, rights or privileges of every kind and character and all property of whatsoever character or description which may have been and is now held, controlled or used by the said City of Levelland for public use or in trust for the public, shall vest in and remain and inure to the City of Levelland under this Charter, and all suits and pending actions to which the City of Levelland heretofore was or now is a party, plaintiff or defendant, shall in no wise be affected or terminated by the adoption of this charter, but shall continue unabated.
The City of Levelland shall have the power and authority to acquire by purchase, gift, devise, deed condemnation, or otherwise, any character of property, within or without it's municipal boundaries.
The City of Levelland shall not be liable on account of any claim for specific performance, breach or contract, or damages to the person or to any property, or for any tort, unless the person, firm or corporation asserting such claim shall file with the City Secretary a written notice of such claim and a brief statement of facts upon which it is based within one hundred eighty (180) days from the date it is claimed such cause of action arose; and no suit shall be instituted in any court on any such claim until the expiration of ninety (90) days from the time such notice shall have been given.
(As amended 5/3/2025)
It shall never be necessary in any suit or proceedings in which the City of Levelland is a party for any bond or other security to be demanded to executed by or on behalf of the City of Levelland in any of the state courts, but all such actions, suits, appeals or proceedings shall be conducted in the same manner as if such bond had been given, and the City of Levelland shall be liable as if the security or bond had been duly executed.
The City of Levelland shall have the right of eminent domain for public purposes whenever the governing authority shall deem it necessary; and to take any private property within or without the City Limits, for any of the following purposes, to-wit: City halls, police stations, jails, calabooses, fire stations and fire alarm systems, police alarm systems, radio stations and fire alarm systems, police alarm systems, radio stations and systems, libraries, welfare buildings, hospitals, sanitariums, auditoriums, market houses, abattoirs, warehouses, streets, alleys, parks, airports, highways, boulevards, playgrounds, dumping grounds, sewer systems, sewerage disposal plants, drains, filtering beds and emptying grounds for sewerage systems, reservoirs, water supply sources, wells, water, electric light and power systems; and to acquire lands, within or without the city, for any other municipal purposes that may be deemed advisable. The power herein granted for the purpose of acquiring private property shall include the power of improvement and enlargement of water works, including water supply, riparian rights, stand pipes, water sheds, dams, the construction of supply reservoirs, wells, parks, squares and pleasure grounds, or the straightening or widening or extension of any street, alley, avenue, boulevard, or other public highway. In all cases where the City seeks to exercise the power of eminent domain, it shall be controlled as nearly as practicable by the laws governing the condemnation of property by railroad corporations in this State, the City taking the position of the railroad corporation in any such cases. The power of eminent domain hereby conferred shall include the right of governing authority of the City, when so expressed, to take the fee in the lands so condemned, and such power and authority shall include the right to condemn public property for such purposes.
The City of Levelland shall have the power to lay out, establish, open, alter, widen, lower, extend, grade, abandon, discontinue, abolish, close, care for, sell, pave, supervise, maintain and improve streets, alleys, sidewalks, squares, parks, public places and bridges, and regulate the use thereof and require the removal from streets, sidewalks, alleys and other public property or places, all obstructions, trees, telegraph, telephone or other poles, carrying electric wires or signs, and all fruit stands, show cases and encroachments of every nature or character upon any of said streets or sidewalks and to vacate and close private ways.
Articles 1086 to 1105, both inclusive, and Articles 1105-B of the 1925 Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, as amended, are hereby adopted and the City of Levelland shall have the power to improve any street or highway within it's limits by filling, grading, razing, paving or re-paying the same in a permanent manner or by the construction or re-construction of sidewalks, curbs and gutters, or by necessary appurtenances thereto, including sewers and drains. In the event there be any conflict between the method of improving streets, etc., as provided by Article 1105-B and the other articles of the Statute hereinbefore referred to, and in the adoption of this Charter herein adopted, the conflicting methods or procedures shall be deemed optional methods, and the City Council of the City of Levelland may legally pursue either of said methods in making such improvements.
The City Council shall have the power by ordinance or otherwise to control the operation of all character of vehicles using public streets, including motorcycles, bicycles, automobiles, trucks, trailers, buses, or light vehicles; and to prescribe the speed of the same, the qualification of the operators of same, the routing of same, and the lighting of same by night; and to provide for the giving of bond or other security for those who own and operate such vehicles.
The City Council shall have the power by ordinance or otherwise to direct and control, within the City Limits, the speed of engines, locomotives, and motor cars operating on railroad tracks, the construction of railroad tracks, turn outs and switches, and the regulations of the grade thereof and the use of streets.
The City shall have the power to build, construct, purchase, own, lease, maintain and operate, within or without the City Limits, light and power systems, water systems, sewer systems or sanitary disposal equipment and appliances, natural gas systems, parks and swimming pools, and any other public service or utility; power to mortgage and encumber such system or systems in the manner provided in Articles 1111 and 1118, both inclusive, of the 1925 Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, as amended, and any other laws of the State of Texas applicable thereto; and all the powers which the City might exercise in connection with such public utilities and public services under Article 1175 of the 1925 Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, and any amendments thereto, now or thereafter in effect, as well as under any other general laws of the State of Texas pertinent or applicable thereto, including the power to demand and receive compensation for service furnished for private purposes, or otherwise, and with full and complete power and right of eminent domain, proper and necessary efficiently to carry out said projects.
(A) 
The City Council shall have the power by ordinance to fix and regulate the prices, fares, tolls and charges of water, gas, electric lights, telephone, telegraph and public carriers, whether transporting passengers, freight or baggage, and generally to supervise and regulate the rates, tolls or charges of all public utilities and common carriers of every kind. The City Council shall have power by ordinance to prescribe the character, quality, and efficiency of service to be rendered, given and performed and furnished, and the kind and design of material used in improvements by all public utilities engaged in the business of furnishing any commodity or service or in the operation of any public utility of any kind in the City of Levelland, together with the power to regulate and require the extension of the lines or services of any such public utility within the City of Levelland, or prohibit same.
(B) 
Any company, corporation or person who may be engaged in furnishing to the inhabitants of the City of Levelland any light or gas service shall, on or before the first day of March of each year, file with the Mayor of the City of Levelland a sworn written report, including all the information set forth in Article 1121 of the 1929 Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, as amended; it being the intention of this section to require said company, corporation or person to file such reports pertaining to their operations insofar as same pertains to their operations within the City Limits of the City of Levelland.
The City shall have power to purchase electricity, gas, oil, or any other article or service essential to a proper conduct of the affairs of the City and of its inhabitants on such terms as the City Council may deem proper for sale and distribution to the inhabitants of the City and adjacent territory.
(As amended 5/3/2025)
(A) 
The right of control, easement, use and ownership and title to the streets, highways, public thoroughfares and property of the City, it's avenues, parks, bridges and all other public places and property, are hereby declared to be inalienable, except by ordinance duly passed by a majority of all members of the City Council; and no grant of any franchise, or lease, or right to use the same, either on, thereto, along, across, under or over the same, by any private corporation, association, or individual, shall be granted by the City Council for a longer period than twenty-five (25) years, unless submitted to the vote of the legally qualified voters of the City; provided, however, that when application is made for any grant or franchise, lease, right or privilege by any person or corporation, if applicant so requests, the Council shall submit the same at an election called for said purpose, the expenses of which shall be borne by the applicant, and, if a majority of the votes cast at said election shall be in favor of making the grant as applied for, said grant shall be made for a term of years as specified in the ordinance calling said election; provided; however, that no grant shall be made or authorized for a period longer than thirty (30) years.
(B) 
The City Council may of it's own motion submit all such applications to an election upon which the people shall vote upon the proposition submitted, the expenses of such election to be paid by the applicant.
(C) 
No franchise shall ever be granted until it has been approved by a majority vote of the City Council at one (1) posted meeting of the City Council, nor shall any such franchise, grant or privilege ever be made unless it provides for adequate compensation or consideration therefor, to be paid to the City, and in addition to any other compensation, grantee shall pay annually such fixed charge as may be prescribed in the franchise. Such franchise and any contract in pursuance thereof shall provide that, upon termination of the grant, the franchise, as well as any other property of the grantee within said City, shall, upon payment of a fair valuation therefore (the mode to determine which shall be specified in the grant), become the property of the City; provided that the grantee shall never be entitled to any payment of valuation because of any value derived from franchise or the fact that it is or may be a going concern, duly installed and operated.
(D) 
Such franchise or grant shall make adequate provisions, by way of forfeiture of the franchise, or otherwise, to secure efficiency of public service at reasonable rates and to maintain the property in good order throughout the life of the grant.
(E) 
The City Council may cause to be inspected examined or at all reasonable hours, any books of account or papers of any such grantee, which account shall be kept and reports made in accordance with forms and methods prescribed by the City Council, which, so far as practicable, shall be uniform with all such grantees. All such grantees shall furnish all such invoices, reports, costs, books and papers as may be required by the City Council in determining any rates or charges of such grantees for their services to the patrons of such grantees.
(As amended 5/3/2025)
The City Council shall have power to establish, maintain and operate an airport or airports, within or without the City Limits, and landing fields, radio beams, beacons and other apparatuses, buildings, equipment and appurtenances necessary and convenient therefor, and to make suitable charges for their use.
The City of Levelland shall have exclusive control of all city parks and playgrounds, whether within or without the City Limits, and to control, regulate and remove all obstructions and prevent all encroachments thereon; to provide for razing, grading, filling, terracing, landscaping, gardening, erecting buildings, swimming pools and wading pools, and other structures, providing amusement therein, for establishing walks and paved driveways around, in and through said parks, playgrounds and other public grounds, speedways or boulevards owned by it, and lighting, both outside and inside the municipal boundaries.
The City Council may require the placing of all wires or overhead construction of public utilities, or other part thereof, as may be deemed best, from time to time, under the surface of the grounds, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the City Council from time to time; and may provide for such construction or change thereof in any franchise hereinafter granted.
The City Council shall have power by ordinance or otherwise to provide means for the and regulation of a fire department and for the guarding against fires. It may prescribe fire limits, stipulate and provide for minimum requirements of construction of buildings within such fire limits, regulate or prohibit the erection, building, replacing or repairing of wooden buildings within such limits; may prescribe that the buildings within such fire limits be made or constructed of fireproof materials; and may prohibit the repairing of wooden buildings within such limits when the same has been damaged to within 50% of the value thereof; and may declare all dilapidated buildings to be nuisances and direct the same to be repaired, removed or abated, in such manner as the City Council may prescribe; and may further prescribe limits within which only fireproof roofing may be used; it may also, by ordinance, regulate, prescribe, govern or forbid storage of lumber, building materials of any kind or inflammable or explosive goods, wares and merchandise of any and every kind within certain limits and prescribe limits within which such materials may be stored, house or carried.
The City Council shall have the power to provide for a Health Department and to establish all necessary rules and regulations protecting the health of the City, and for the establishment of quarantine stations, pest houses, emergency hospitals and hospitals, and to provide for the adoption of necessary quarantine laws to protect the inhabitants against contagious or infectious disease or diseases. Such general powers shall include, but not the exclusion of other powers, the following powers:
(A) 
The City Council shall have the power, by ordinance or otherwise, to regulate, license and inspect persons, firms corporations, common carriers, or associations operating, managing, or conducting any hotel or any other public sleeping or eating place, or any place or vehicle where food or drink, or containers therefor, or any kind, is manufactured, prepared, stored, packed, served, sold, or otherwise handled, within the City Limits of said City, or any manufacturer or vendor of candies or manufactured sweets; and shall have the power to prescribe health regulations with reference to any and all workers or employees hired or used in any of said places or vehicles, or about said places or vehicles, or who deliver products to and from vehicles; and shall have the power to inspect, license and regulate the sanitary conditions of said places and vehicles, and to condemn all articles not wholesome or fit for human consumption.
(B) 
The City Council of the City of Levelland shall have the power to license barbers and beauticians, and to prescribe health regulations with respect to their places of business, their persons and their workers and employees, and shall have the power to prescribe health regulations with respect to porters, hotel maids and domestic servants.
(C) 
To define all nuisances and prohibit the same within the City and outside the City Limits within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Levelland as prescribed by the laws of the State of Texas to have power to police all parks or grounds, speedways, or boulevards, owned by said City and lying both outside and inside said City Limits; to prohibit the pollution of any stream, draw, drain or tributaries thereof, water deposit and reservoir, whether above or below the ground, which may constitute the source or storage of water supply, and to provide for policing the same as well as to provide for the protection of any water sheds and the policing of same; to inspect, license and regulate dairies, slaughter pens and slaughter houses, inside or outside the City Limits, from which meat or milk is furnished to the inhabitants of the City; to require property owners to make connection to the sewer system with their premises, and to provide for fixing a lien against the property of property owners who fail or refuse to make sanitary sewer connections, and to charge the cost against said owner and make it a personal liability.
(D) 
To provide for the fixing of penalties for failure of any person, firm, corporation or association to comply with any such rules and regulations so prescribed by the City Council under the provisions of this section; it being the intention to vest in the City Council not only the powers expressly enumerated in this section, but all other powers reasonably necessary to protect the health of the City of Levelland and it's inhabitants.
(E) 
The City Council shall further have the right, by ordinance, to adopt and prescribe rules and regulations for the handling and disposition of all garbage, trash and rubbish within City of Levelland, and shall further have the right to prescribe that the City alone shall remove all garbage, trash and rubbish, and shall have the right to fix charges and compensation to be charged by the City of the removal of garbage, trash and rubbish, provided said charge shall never be less than twenty-five cents ($0.25) for each home and/or business to whom garbage service is rendered.
(As amended 5-5-1992)
The City of Levelland shall have power by ordinance to establish and maintain a Police Department and to prescribe the duties of the members of said Department, and regulate and conduct and fix the salaries or fees of office, or both, of such members of said Department. The head of the Police Department of said City shall be known and designated as "Chief of Police", and the other members thereof shall be known as "Policemen"; all of whom shall be employed by the City Manager with the consent and advice of the City Council.
The City Council of the City of Levelland shall have the power and authority to compromise and settle any and all claims and lawsuits of every kin and character in favor of or against the said City, including suits by said City to recover delinquent taxes.
All purchases made or contracts entered into by the City of Levelland that call for or require the expenditure of funds of an amount that is required by State Law to be competitively bid, must first be submitted for competitive bids in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas as the same now exist or as they may be amended from time to time. Such bids, to the extent practicable, shall be based upon plans and specifications prepared for that purpose. The City Council shall determine the most advantageous bid for the City and shall award the contract to such bidder, but the City Council shall always have the right to reject any and all bids, and in such event may call for new bids.
(As amended 5-5-1992)
The City Council shall have full power and authority to zone the City of Levelland, and to pass all necessary ordinances, rules and regulations governing the same under and by virtue of the authority given to cities and legislative bodies thereof by Article 1011-A to and including Article 1011-H of the 1925 Revised Civil Statues of Texas, as amended, being Acts of 1927, 40th Legislature, page 422, Chapter 283, and all amendments thereto, and amendments which may hereafter be made thereto.
In addition of the powers herein before specifically enumerated, the City Council of the City of Levelland shall have the power to license any lawful business, occupation or calling that it susceptible to the control of the police power; to license, regulate, control or prohibit the erection of signs or bill boards within the corporate limits of the City; to provide for a public library and the maintenance thereof; to provide for the regulation and control of electricians, plumbers, and gas fitters and electrical and plumbing workers and to require efficiency in the same; to provide for the inspection of weights, measures, and meters and fix a standard of such weights, measurers and meters, and to require conformity to such standards, and to provide penalties for failure to use or conform to the same; and to provide for inspection fees; to provide for the issuance of permits for erecting all buildings, for the inspection of the construction of buildings in respect to proper wiring for electric lights and other electrical appliances, piping for gas, flues, chimneys, plumbing and sewer connections; and to enforce proper regulations in regard thereto; to require the construction of fire escapes for all public buildings, and to determine the sufficiency and regulate the safety of all exits and fire escapes provided for public buildings of every kind and character; and to provide for the enforcement of all ordinances enacted by the City by a fine not to exceed the maximum amount allowed by applicable state law, provided that no ordinance shall prescribe a greater or lesser penalty than is prescribed for a like offense by the laws of the State of Texas.
(As amended 9-21-1973 & 5/3/2025)