| 1 | 1 | | By: Flynn (Senate Sponsor - Hegar) H.B. No. 1806 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Received from the House April 19, 2011; |
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| 3 | 3 | | April 26, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on |
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| 4 | 4 | | Agriculture and Rural Affairs; May 3, 2011, reported favorably by |
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| 5 | 5 | | the following vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 3, 2011, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | |
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| 8 | 8 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 9 | 9 | | AN ACT |
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| 10 | 10 | | relating to fishing tournament fraud; providing penalties. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Section 66.119, Parks and Wildlife Code, is |
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| 13 | 13 | | transferred to Subchapter A, Chapter 66, Parks and Wildlife Code, |
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| 14 | 14 | | redesignated as Section 66.023, Parks and Wildlife Code, and |
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| 15 | 15 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 16 | 16 | | Sec. 66.023 [66.119]. FRAUD IN [FRESHWATER] FISHING |
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| 17 | 17 | | TOURNAMENTS. (a) In this section, "fishing tournament" means a |
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| 18 | 18 | | contest in which a prize is to be awarded to one or more |
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| 19 | 19 | | participants in the contest based on the weight, length, number, or |
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| 20 | 20 | | type of [freshwater] fish caught by the participants or based on any |
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| 21 | 21 | | other criteria applicable to the fish caught. |
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| 22 | 22 | | (b) A person commits an offense if, with intent to affect |
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| 23 | 23 | | the outcome of a fishing tournament: |
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| 24 | 24 | | (1) the person provides, offers to provide, sells, or |
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| 25 | 25 | | offers to sell a fish to a participant in the tournament for the |
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| 26 | 26 | | purpose of representing that the fish was caught by the participant |
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| 27 | 27 | | in the course of the tournament; |
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| 28 | 28 | | (2) the person, as a participant in the tournament, |
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| 29 | 29 | | accepts or agrees to accept a fish from another person for the |
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| 30 | 30 | | purpose of representing that the fish was caught by the participant |
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| 31 | 31 | | in the course of the tournament; [or] |
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| 32 | 32 | | (3) the person, as a participant in the tournament, |
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| 33 | 33 | | represents that a fish was caught by the person in the course of the |
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| 34 | 34 | | tournament when in fact the fish was not caught by that person or |
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| 35 | 35 | | the fish was not caught in the course of that tournament; |
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| 36 | 36 | | (4) the person alters the length or weight of a fish |
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| 37 | 37 | | for the purpose of representing that the fish as entered in the |
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| 38 | 38 | | tournament was that length or weight when caught; or |
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| 39 | 39 | | (5) the person enters a fish in the tournament that was |
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| 40 | 40 | | taken in violation of any provision of this code or a proclamation |
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| 41 | 41 | | or regulation of the commission adopted under this code. |
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| 42 | 42 | | (c) A person commits an offense if the person sponsors or |
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| 43 | 43 | | conducts a fishing tournament and knows of the occurrence in the |
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| 44 | 44 | | tournament of activity prohibited by Subsection (b) of this section |
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| 45 | 45 | | and does not immediately notify a law enforcement officer |
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| 46 | 46 | | commissioned by the director of its occurrence. |
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| 47 | 47 | | (d) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, |
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| 48 | 48 | | except that if the offense occurred during a tournament in which any |
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| 49 | 49 | | prize or combination of prizes to be awarded for any one category |
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| 50 | 50 | | for which an award is given, whether the prize or prizes are to an |
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| 51 | 51 | | individual or a team, is worth $10,000 or more in money or goods, |
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| 52 | 52 | | the offense is a felony of the third degree. |
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| 53 | 53 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 54 | 54 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 55 | 55 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 56 | 56 | | covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the |
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| 57 | 57 | | former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
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| 58 | 58 | | this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
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| 59 | 59 | | this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that |
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| 60 | 60 | | date. |
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| 61 | 61 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 62 | 62 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 63 | 63 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 64 | 64 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 65 | 65 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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| 66 | 66 | | * * * * * |
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