Morales said the county is not allowed to enforced building codes outside of city limits. In fact, there are no building codes outside of city limits.

“As long as they’ve got potable water and proper sewage disposal, they’re good to go,” Morales said.

Morales said he’s been fighting the state of Texas on this issue for about 25 years.

“The state and various building associations won’t allow us to adopt more meaningful regulations to protect the residents living just outside of our city limits,” Morales said.

Morales also said that landlords can legally rent house that has problems like exposed wires, open outlets, no hot water and no electricity at all.

Morales said people who oppose having the county enforce building codes claim that it would cause the cost of housing to rise to unaffordable levels.

Morales said the cost of having no codes is fire danger. He said that East El Paso growth is expanding into areas that used to be remote, and El Paso needs to make sure that structures are safe before it’s too late.

“When I started this job, there were area’s out there that people thought would not ever become part of the city of El Paso,” Morales said. “Those are the very areas that the city of El Paso is now surrounding and having to take in.”

KFOX14 left a message for state Rep. Chente Quintanilla to ask him about this issue. So far, he has not called back.