State Representative Mike Schofield of Katy announced today he has filed a bill to protect home owners from having their religious displays removed by their home owners’ associations.
Schofield explained some HOAs have misinterpreted a law which prevents them from removing religious displays from residents’ front doors to give them authority to remove displays from other parts of the property, such as the front lawn. House Bill 1569 clarifies that home owners can have their religious displays anywhere on their property.
Katy residents who received letters from their HOAs demanding that they remove crosses they placed on their lawn at Easter asked Rep. Schofield to file this bill. Senator Paul Bettencourt is filing a companion bill, Senate Bill 581, in the Texas Senate.
“No one has a right to tell you that you cannot worship at your own home,” Rep. Schofield said. “Preventing someone from having a religious symbol on their own lawn is an infringement on freedom that is positively un-Texan, and it must stop.” Senator Bettencourt also stated, “The HOA does not own your property and should not be in the business of placing overly burdensome restrictions on the free exercise of your religion”.
Mike Schofield is the State Representative for Texas House District 132 in Katy and Cy-Fair. This Session, Schofield will serve on the Elections, Redistricting, Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committees. Schofield served as an advisor to Governor Perry from 2003 to 2013, where he advised the governor on legislation ranging from lawsuit abuse and property rights protection to maintaining a fair election system and Voter ID. He was first elected in 2014, and was named Freshman Legislator of the Year by the House in his first session in 2015.