§ 125.064.Suit to Abate Nuisance

The suit, and the list of who may bring it is remarkably wide.

A district, county, or city attorney, the attorney general, or a resident of the state may sue to enjoin a public nuisance under this subchapter.

"A resident of the state" is the striking phrase. Not a resident of the county, the city, or the neighbourhood — any Texas resident may bring a gang injunction suit.

Two categories of defendant may be named. Any person who habitually associates with others to engage in gang activity as a member of a combination, criminal street gang, or foreign terrorist organization. And any person who owns or is responsible for maintaining a place that is habitually used for engaging in gang activity.

The two track the two public nuisance provisions — the organization and the place — so a suit can proceed against people, premises, or both.

The first category requires membership and habitual association. A person who associates with gang members without being one, or a member who does not habitually associate to engage in gang activity, falls outside it.

Two procedural requirements are removed. Where the state sues, the petition does not require verification. Where a resident sues, the resident is not required to show personal injury.

The second removal is what makes the citizen suit possible. A resident of a distant county has no personal injury to plead, and requiring one would confine the action to the state.

It also removes the usual standing limit on public nuisance claims, which at common law required a plaintiff to show harm different in kind from the public at large.