82R9769 ALB-D
By: Coleman H.B. No. 2812
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to access to certain cemeteries; providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 711.041, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to
read as follows:
(c) At a time other than the time provided by Subsection
(b), the owner or owners of the lands surrounding a cemetery or
private burial grounds must allow a person to enter and exit the
owner's land using reasonable routes of ingress and egress for the
purpose of visiting the cemetery or private burial grounds if:
(1) the person provides written notice to the owner or
owners of the lands surrounding the cemetery or private burial
grounds of the person's visit;
(2) the person provides the notice required by
Subdivision (1):
(A) not later than the 14th day before the date
the person wishes to visit the cemetery; or
(B) annually, as a list of dates if the person
wishes to visit the cemetery more than once per year; and
(3) the time of the visit is reasonable.
(d) If ingress or egress from a cemetery or private burial
grounds is not available, the commissioners court of the county in
which the cemetery or private burial grounds are located shall take
reasonable action to provide access for the purposes described by
Subsection (a).
SECTION 2. Section 711.0515, Health and Safety Code, as
added by Chapters 263 (H.B. 1468) and 914 (H.B. 2927), Acts of the
81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted and amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 711.0515. [ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL;]
INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. (a) In addition to bringing an action under
Section 711.051, the attorney general at the request of the Texas
Funeral Service Commission may bring an action for injunctive
relief to enforce this chapter or a rule or order adopted by the
commission under this chapter.
(b) The Texas Funeral Service Commission may institute an
action in its own name to enjoin a landowner who violates Section
711.041 or a rule adopted under that section. At the commission's
request, the attorney general shall represent the commission. At
the commission's request and with the consent of the attorney
general, a district or county attorney within the attorney's
respective jurisdiction may represent the commission.
(c) A person aggrieved by a violation or threatened
violation of Section 711.041 or a rule adopted under that section
may bring an action for appropriate injunctive relief to prevent
the violation from continuing or occurring.
(d) A suit under Subsection (b) or (c) shall be brought in
the district court having jurisdiction in the county in which the
violation or threatened violation occurs.
(e) In granting injunctive relief under Subsection (b) or
(c), the district court may set the frequency, duration, and hours
of access to a cemetery.
SECTION 3. Section 711.0521(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A [C]
misdemeanor.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
711.0521(b), Health and Safety Code, applies only to an offense
committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense
committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this
Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 5. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 82nd Legislature, Regular Session, 2011,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.