1. 
The City of Slaton shall have power to ordain and establish such acts, laws, rules, regulations, resolutions, and ordinances, not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of Texas and of this Charter, as shall be needful for the government, interests, health, welfare, and good order of said City and its inhabitants. Under the name of the City of Slaton it shall be known in law and have succession and be capable of contracting and being contracted with, suing, and being sued, impleading, and being impleaded, answering, and being answered unto, in all courts and tribunals, and in all amounts whatsoever, subject to the laws of the State of Texas, or which shall hereafter be passed. The City of Slaton shall have the power to take, hold, lease, grant, purchase and convey such real property or mixed property or estate, situated within, or without, the limits thereof, as the purpose of said corporation may require and shall have and use a corporate seal, and change and renew the same at pleasure.
2. 
Rights Reserved - All suits, taxes, penalties, fines, forfeiture, and all other rights, claims and demands, of every kind and character, which have accrued under the laws in favor of said city, heretofore in force governing the same, shall belong to and vest in said city and shall not abate by reason of the adoption of this Charter, and shall be prosecuted and collected for the use and benefit of said City of Slaton and shall not be in any manner affected by the taking effect of this charter; but as to all of such rights, the laws under which they shall have accrued shall be deemed to be in full force and effect.
3. 
Local Self-Government - The City of Slaton shall possess and may exercise the full power of local self-government. It may hold, by gift, deed, devise, or otherwise, any character of property, including any charitable or trust fund, and subject to and within the limits of superior law may act in perpetual succession as a body politic.
4. 
For greater certainty, the following are hereby especially enumerated and referred to as being among the other powers which are hereby conferred upon and which may be exercised by the City of Slaton, to-wit:
A. 
All the powers conferred upon cities and towns by Title 22 of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 1911, except as may hereafter be denied, limited or extended, are hereby conferred upon the City of Slaton as fully and completely as if such powers were herein separately enumerated.
B. 
All powers, privileges and immunities conferred upon cities of more than five thousand inhabitants, by Section 4 of Chapter 147, Acts of the 33rd Legislature, General Laws Regular Session, at Page 310 to 316, entitled, "An Act Authorizing Cities Having More Than Five Thousand Inhabitants, by a Majority Vote of the Qualified Voters of said City, at an Election Held for the Purpose to Adopt and Amend their Charters, etc; and such powers are hereby conferred upon the City of Slaton as fully and completely as if each of said mentioned powers were herein separately enumerated; but enumeration of special powers herein, or in the Statutes referred to, shall not be held or construed to preclude the city from exercising all powers of local government not inhibited by the Constitution and Laws of the State of Texas, or by special limitations in this Charter contained, the purpose of this Charter being to enlarge upon the power extended by the general laws of cities incorporated thereunder, and to secure to the City of Slaton, all the powers conferred by the Constitution and Laws of this State upon cities having more than five thousand inhabitants.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
The City of Slaton shall have the power to enact and enforce all ordinances necessary to protect health, life, and property, and to prevent and summarily abate and remove all nuisances and to preserve and enforce the good government, order and security of the city and its inhabitants, and to enact and enforce ordinances on any and all subjects, provided that no ordinances shall be enacted inconsistent with the provisions of this charter, or the general laws or constitution of the State of Texas.
The style of all ordinances of the City of Slaton shall be: “Be it ordained by the City of Slaton;” but the same may be omitted when published in book or pamphlet form purporting to be published by the City of Slaton.
All real estate owned in fee simple title, or held by lease, sufferance, easement or otherwise; all public buildings, fire station, park, streets and alleys, and all property whether real or personal, of whatever kind, character or description now owned or controlled by the City of Slaton, shall vest in, inure to, remain and be the property of said City of Slaton.
The City of Slaton shall have the power and authority to acquire by purchase, gift, devise, deed, condemnation or otherwise, any character of property including any charitable or trust fund.
Said city shall have the power to provide that no funds of the city shall be subject to garnishment and that the city shall never be required to answer in any garnishment proceedings.
Said city shall have the power to provide for the exemption of said city for liability or [on] account of any claim for damages to any person or property, or to fix such rules and regulations, governing the city’s liability, as may be deemed advisable.
Said city shall have the right of eminent domain and the power to appropriate private property 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, calaboose, fire stations and fire alarm systems, libraries, hospitals, sanitariums, auditoriums, market houses, reformatories, abattoirs, streets, alleys, parks, highways, playgrounds, sewer systems, storm sewers, sewage disposal plants, filtering beds and emptying grounds for sewer systems, drainage, water supply sources, wells, water and electric light and power systems, streetcar systems, telephone and telegraph systems, gas plants or gas systems, cemeteries, crematories, prison farms, pesthouses, and to acquire lands, within or without the city for any other municipal purpose that may be deemed advisable. The power herein granted for purpose of acquiring private property shall include the power of improvement and enlargement of waterworks, including water supply, riparian rights, standpipes and watersheds and the construction of supply reservoirs. In all cases wherein the city exercises 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 case.
Said city shall have the power to buy, own or construct, and to maintain and operate, within or without the city limits complete water system or systems, gas or electric lighting or power plant or plants, telephone systems, street railways, sewer systems, sewage plants, fertilizing plants, abattoirs, municipal railway terminals, or any other public service utility, and to demand and receive compensation for services furnished by the city for private purposes or otherwise, and to have the power to regulate, by ordinance, the collection of compensation for such services. Said city shall have the power to acquire by lease, purchase or condemnation, the property of any person, firm or corporation now or hereafter conducting any such business, for the purpose of operating such public utility or utilities and for the purpose of distributing such service throughout the city, or any portion thereof.
Should the city determine to acquire any public utility by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, as herein provided, said city shall have the power to obtain funds for the purpose of acquiring said public utility and paying the compensation therefor by issuing bonds or notes, or other evidence of indebtedness, and shall secure the same by fixing a lien upon the property constituting the public utility so acquired, and said security shall apply alone to said property so pledged.
Said city shall have the authority to manufacture its own electricity, gas or anything else that may be needed or used by it or the public; to make contracts with any person, firm, or corporation for the purchase of gas, water, electricity or any other commodity or articles used by it or by the public, and to sell same to the public as may be determined by the governing authority.
In the event said city shall acquire by purchase, gift, devise, deed, condemnation or otherwise, any waterworks system, electric light or power system, gas system, street railway system, telephone system or any other public service utility to operate and maintain for the purpose of serving the inhabitants of said city, the right to operate and maintain such public service utility, so acquired, shall be exclusive.
Said city shall have the power to determine, fix and regulate the charges, fares and rates of any person, firm or corporation exercising, or that may hereafter exercise, any right of franchise or public privilege in said city and to prescribe the kind of service to be furnished, the equipment to be used, the manner in which service shall be rendered and to change such regulation from time to time; that in order to ascertain all of the facts necessary for the proper understanding of what is or should be reasonable rate or regulation, the governing authority shall have full power to inspect the books and other records of such person, firm or corporation and compel the attendance of witnesses for such purpose; provided that in adopting such regulations and in fixing or changing such compensation, no stock or bond authorized or issued by any person, firm or corporation exercising such franchise or privilege shall be considered unless proof be made that the same have been actually issued by such person, firm or corporation for money, or its equivalent, paid and used for the development of the property under investigation.
The City of Slaton shall have exclusive dominion, control and jurisdiction in, upon, over and under the public streets, avenues, alleys and highways of the city and to provide for the improvement thereof by paving, raising, grading, draining or otherwise and to charge the cost of making such improvements against the abutting property, by fixing a lien against the same and a personal charge against the owner thereof, according to an assessment especially levied therefor, in an amount not to exceed the special benefit any such property received in enhanced value by reason of such improvements, and to provide for the issuance of assignable certificates covering the payment of said improvements; provided that in no event shall more than three-fourths (3/4) of the cost of such improvement be charged to the owner and made a lien against said abutting property; it being further provided that all street railways, steam railways and other railways shall pay the entire cost of improving said streets, avenues, alleys and highways between the rails and tracks of any such railway companies, and for a distance of two (2) feet on each side thereof.
Said city shall have the power to provide for the construction and building of sidewalks, and to charge the entire cost of the construction of said sidewalks, including the curb, against the owner of the abutting property and to make a special charge against the owner for such cost, and to provide by special assessments, a lien against such property for such cost.
Said city shall have the power and authority to grant franchises for the use and occupancy of streets, avenues, alleys and any and all public grounds belonging to or under control of the city. No telegraph, telephone, electric light or power, street railway, interurban railway, steam railway, gas company, waterworks, water systems, or any other character of public utility shall be granted any franchise or permitted the use of any street, avenue, alley, highway or grounds of the city without first making application to and obtaining the consent of the governing authorities thereto, expressed by ordinance, and upon paying such compensation as may be prescribed, and upon such conditions as may be provided for by such ordinance, and before such ordinance proposing to make any grant or franchise or privilege to any applicant to use or occupy any street, alley or any other public ground belonging to or under control of the city, shall become effective, publication of said ordinance, as finally proposed to be passed, shall be made in some newspaper published in the City of Slaton, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks, which publication shall be made at the expense of the applicant desiring said grant and said proposed ordinance shall not be thereafter changed unless again republished as in the first instance, nor shall any such ordinance take effect or become a law or contract or vest any rights in the applicant therefor, until after the expiration of thirty (30) days from the last publication of said ordinance, as aforesaid.
Pending the time such ordinance may become effective, it is hereby made the duty of the governing authority of the city to order an election if requested so to do by written petition signed by at least ten (10) per cent of the legally qualified voters, as determined by the number of votes cast in the last regular municipal election; at which election the qualified voters of said city shall vote for or against the proposed grant, as set forth in detail by the ordinance conferring the rights and privileges upon the applicant therefor. Such election shall be ordered not less than thirty (30) days nor more than ninety (90) days from the date of filing said petition, and if at said election the majority of votes cast shall be for the granting of such franchise or privilege, said ordinance and the making of said proposed grant shall thereupon become effective, but if a majority of votes cast at said election shall be against the granting of such franchise or privilege, such ordinance shall be ineffective and the making of such proposed grant be null and void.
Said city shall have the power to open, extend, straighten and widen any public street, avenue or alley and for such purpose to acquire the necessary land, by purchase or condemnation and to provide that the cost of improving any such streets, avenues or alleys by opening, extending, straightening or widening the same shall be paid by the owner of the property lying in the territory of such improvement and which is specially benefitted thereby, and to provide that the cost shall be charged, by special assessment against such owner and his property for the amount due by him, and three (3) special commissioners shall be appointed by the county judge of Lubbock County, Texas, for the purpose of condemning said land and apportioning said cost, and such apportionment shall be specially assessed by the governing authority of said city against the owners and their property lying in the territory so found by said special commissioners, to be specially benefitted in enhanced value, and said city may issue assignable certificates for the payment of any such cost against such property owner and his property, and may provide for the payment thereof in deferred payments, which deferred payments shall bear interest at the rate of not exceeding eight (8) per cent per annum. Said city shall pay such portion of such cost as may be determined by said special commissioners, to be due by it; provided the cost paid by the city shall never exceed one-third (1/3) of the cost of such improvement.
Said city shall have the power to control, regulate and remove all obstructions, encroachments and incumbrances on any public street, avenue or alley and to narrow, alter, widen, straighten, vacate, abandon and close same; to provide for sprinkling and cleaning same, and to regulate and control the moving of buildings and structures of every kind and character upon and along the same.
Said city shall have exclusive control over all city parks, and playgrounds and to control, regulate and remove all obstructions and prevent all encroachments thereupon; and to provide for the raising, grading, filling, terracing, landscape gardening, erecting buildings, providing amusements therein, for establishing walks and paving driveways around, in and through said parks, playgrounds and other public grounds.
Said city shall have the power:
[1] 
To define all nuisances, prohibit the same within the city and outside the city limits for a distance of five thousand (5,000) feet.
[2] 
To police all parks, grounds, speedways, streets, avenues, and alleys owned by said city, within or without the city limits.
[3] 
To prohibit the pollution of all sources of water supply of said city, and to provide for the protection of watersheds.
[4] 
To provide for the inspection of dairies, cows and dairy herds, slaughter pens and slaughterhouses and abattoirs, within or without the city limits from which meat, milk, butter or eggs from same are furnished to the inhabitants of said city, and to provide for the inspection of meat markets, grocery stores, drugstores, confectioneries, fruit stands, ice cream factories, laundries, bottling plants, hotels, restaurants and bakeries; the source, storage and distribution of water, and all other places where food or drinks for human consumption are manufactured, handled, sold or exposed for sale, and to regulate and inspect the character and standard of such articles of food and drink so sold or offered for sale.
[5] 
To provide for the inspection and regulation of the sanitary condition of all premises and vacant lots within the city limits; for the removal of garbage, night soil, refuse and unsanitary vegetation; to provide for establishing a lien against the property for any expenses incurred by the city in enforcing of all proper and reasonable regulations, for the health and sanitation of said city and its inhabitants.
[6] 
To provide for a health department and the establishment of rules and regulations protecting the health of the city; the establishment of quarantine stations, pest houses and hospitals and to provide for the adoption of necessary quarantine laws to protect the inhabitants against contagious and infectious diseases.
[7] 
To provide for a sanitary sewer system and for the maintenance thereof; to require property owners to make connection to such sewers with their premises and to provide for fixing a lien against any property owner’s premises who fails or refuses to make sanitary sewer connections and to charge the cost against the said owner and make it a personal liability, and to fix penalties for failure to make sanitary sewer connections.
[8] 
To require property owners, their agents and lessees to remove within a reasonable length of time, ice slush, snow and other debris from sidewalks fronting on property owned, occupied or controlled by such owner, agent or lessee and to require such owner, agent or lessee to remove all low hanging limbs from trees adjacent to sidewalks in said city.
[9] 
To prohibit the driving of herds of horses, mules, cattle, hogs, sheep, goats and all herds of domestic animals along or upon the streets, avenues or alleys of said city.
[10] 
To establish and to regulate public grounds and to regulate, restrain and prohibit the running at large of horses, mules, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, geese, chickens, pigeons, ducks and all other domesticated animals and fowls and to authorize the restraining, impounding and sale of the same for the cost of the proceedings and the penalty incurred, and to order their destruction when they cannot be sold and to impose penalties upon the owner thereof for the violation of any ordinances regulating or prohibiting the same, and to tax, regulate, restrain and prohibit the running at large of dogs and to authorize their destruction and impose penalties on the owners or keepers thereof.
[11] 
To prohibit the inhumane treatment of animals and provide punishment therefor.
[12] 
To prohibit and restrain the flying of kites, firearms, firecrackers, rolling of hoops, and the use of velocipedes, bicycles and skates, or the use and practice of any amusements on the streets or sidewalks, and to restrain, regulate and prohibit the ringing of bells or blowing of horns, bugles and whistles, crying of goods and all other noises, practices and performances tending to collection of persons in the streets or tending, unnecessarily to interfere with the peace and quietude of the inhabitants of said city; and to suppress and regulate all unnecessary noises.
[13] 
To license any lawful business, occupation or calling that is susceptible to the control of the police power, and to license, regulate, control or prohibit the erection of signs or billboards.
[14] 
To license, tax and regulate or suppress and prevent hawkers, peddlers and pawnbrokers.
[15] 
To license, tax and regulate the charges of fares made by any person, firm or corporation, owning, operating or controlling any vehicle operated for the carriage of passengers or freight for hire, on the public streets of the city.
[16] 
To regulate the operation of railway trains and streetcars operated on, along or across the streets, avenues or alleys of said city; to license and control the operation of automobiles, motorcycles, taxicabs, buses, cabs and carriages and all character of vehicles using the public streets, and to regulate the use and occupancy of the streets by any such vehicles.
[17] 
To provide for the regulation and control of plumbers and plumbing works and to secure efficiency in the same.
[18] 
To provide for the inspection of weights, measures and meters and fix a standard of such weights, measures and meters and require conformity to such standards and provide penalties for failure to use or conform to the same, and to provide for inspection fees.
[19] 
To provide for the issuance of permits for erecting all buildings, for the inspection of the construction of all buildings in respect to proper wiring for electric lights and other electric appliances, piping for gas, flues, chimneys, plumbing and sewer connections, and to enforce proper regulations in regard thereto.
[20] 
To provide for the establishing and maintaining of a public library.
[21] 
To provide for the establishment and designation of fire limits; to prescribe the kind and character of structures to be erected therein; to provide for the erection of fireproof buildings within said limits and for the condemnation of dangerous or dilapidated structures which are calculated to increase the fire hazard.
[22] 
To enact and enforce all ordinances and resolutions, necessary to regulate the safety of all office buildings, hotels, apartment houses, rooming houses, hospitals, theaters, store buildings and all public buildings.
[23] 
To require the construction of fire escapes in connection with public buildings, and to determine the efficiency and regulate the safety of all exits and fire escapes provided on public buildings of every kind and character.
[24] 
To provide for the establishment of districts and limits, within said city, wherein saloons for the sale of spirituous, vinous and malt liquors may be located and maintained, and to prohibit the sale of such liquors or the location of such saloons without such defined districts or limits and to regulate the location, permit, forbid, regulate and control theaters, moving picture shows, vaudeville shows, dance halls, ten-pin alleys, pool halls and all other public amusements, whenever the preservation of order, tranquility, public safety or good morals demands it.
[25] 
To restrain and punish vagrants, mendicants, beggars and prostitutes, to regulate, control or prohibit the sale, gift, barter or exchange of cocaine, opium, morphine and the salts thereof.
[26] 
To prohibit and punish keepers and inmates of bawdy, assignation and disorderly houses, and to prevent and suppress such bawdy, assignation and disorderly houses, and to punish such keepers, inmates and owners, or agents of such owners of such houses, knowingly permitting such houses to be occupied as such bawdy, assignation and disorderly houses and to determine such inmates and keepers to be vagrants.
[27] 
To provide for establishing and maintaining the fire department of the city.
[28] 
To require waterworks corporations, gas companies, streetcar companies, telephone companies, electric light and power companies or other companies or individuals, exercising franchises, now or hereafter, for the city, to make and furnish extensions of their service to such territory as may be required by ordinance.
[29] 
To establish and maintain the city police department, prescribe the qualifications and duties of policemen and regulate their conduct.
[30] 
To provide for the enforcement of all ordinances enacted by it, by a fine not to exceed the maximum amount allowed by applicable state law, provided that no ordinance shall provide a greater or less penalty than is prescribed for a like offense by the laws of the state.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
[31] 
To provide for the commutation of fines imposed, by labor in a workhouse, on the streets and public ways of the city; and for the collection of any fine imposed, execution may be enforced, as executions issued in civil cases.
[32] 
To establish [a] corporation [municipal] court.