82R9986 JSC-F
By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 1850
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to appeals regarding cruelly treated animals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 821.021, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 821.021. DEFINITIONS [DEFINITION]. In this
subchapter:
(1) "Cruelly [, "cruelly] treated" includes tortured,
seriously overworked, unreasonably abandoned, unreasonably
deprived of necessary food, care, or shelter, cruelly confined, or
caused to fight with another animal.
(2) "Magistrate" means any officer as defined in
Article 2.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, except that the term does
not include justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of
criminal appeals or courts of appeals, judges or associate judges
of statutory probate courts, or judges or associate judges of
district courts that give preference to family law matters or
family district courts under Subchapter D, Chapter 24, Government
Code.
(3) "Seize in place" means to allow an animal subject
to a warrant for seizure under this subchapter to remain with the
owner in lieu of impoundment, but to prohibit the owner from moving
or disposing of the animal.
SECTION 2. Section 821.022, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection
(d) to read as follows:
(a) If a peace officer or an officer who has responsibility
for animal control in a county or municipality has reason to believe
that an animal has been or is being cruelly treated, the officer may
apply to a justice court or magistrate in the county or to a
municipal court in the municipality in which the animal is located
for a warrant to seize the animal or seize the animal in place.
(c) The officer executing the warrant shall cause the animal
to be impounded or seized in place and shall give written notice to
the owner of the animal of the time and place of the hearing.
(d) An owner is entitled, on request, to a trial by jury in a
justice or municipal court in lieu of a hearing.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 821.023, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 821.023. HEARING OR TRIAL; ORDER OF DISPOSITION OR
RETURN OF ANIMAL.
SECTION 4. Sections 821.023(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and
(g), Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A finding in a court of competent jurisdiction that the
owner of an animal is guilty of an offense under Section 42.09 or
42.092, Penal Code, involving the animal is prima facie evidence at
a hearing or trial authorized by Section 821.022 that the animal has
been cruelly treated.
(b) A statement of an owner made at a hearing or trial
provided for under this subchapter is not admissible in a trial of
the owner for an offense under Section 42.09 or 42.092, Penal Code.
(c) Each interested party is entitled to an opportunity to
present evidence at the hearing or trial.
(d) If the trier of fact [court] finds that the animal's
owner has cruelly treated the animal, the owner shall be divested of
ownership of the animal, and the court shall:
(1) order a public sale of the animal by auction;
(2) order the animal given to a nonprofit animal
shelter, pound, or society for the protection of animals; or
(3) order the animal humanely destroyed if the court
decides that the best interests of the animal or that the public
health and safety would be served by doing so.
(e) If the trier of fact [A court that] finds that an
animal's owner has cruelly treated the animal the court shall order
the owner to pay all court costs, including costs of:
(1) investigation;
(2) expert witnesses;
(3) housing and caring for the animal during its
impoundment;
(4) conducting any public sale ordered by the court;
and
(5) humanely destroying the animal if destruction is
ordered by the court.
(g) The court shall order the animal returned to the owner
if the trier of fact [court] does not find that the animal's owner
has cruelly treated the animal.
SECTION 5. Section 821.025, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and
(d) to read as follows:
(a) An owner divested of ownership of an animal under
Section 821.023 may appeal the order to a county court or county
court at law in the county in which the justice or municipal court
is located. As a condition of perfecting an appeal, not later than
the 10th calendar day after the date the order is issued, the owner
must file a notice of appeal and an appeal bond in an amount
determined by the court from which the appeal is taken to be the
approximate actual cost anticipated to be [adequate to cover the
estimated expenses] incurred in housing and caring for the
impounded animal during the appeal process. Not later than the
10th [fifth] calendar day after the date the notice of appeal and
appeal bond is filed, [the court from which the appeal is taken
shall deliver a copy of the court's transcript to the county court
or county court at law to which the appeal is made. Not later than
the 10th calendar day after the date] the county court or county
court at law, as appropriate, [receives the transcript, the court]
shall consider the matter de novo [dispose of the appeal]. The
decision of the county court or county court at law under this
section is final and may not be further appealed.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 30.00014, Government Code, or
any other law, a person filing an appeal from a municipal court
under Subsection (a) is not required to file a motion for a new
trial to perfect an appeal.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, a county court or a
county court at law has jurisdiction to hear an appeal filed under
this section.
SECTION 6. Section 821.0211, Health and Safety Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 7. (a) The change in law made by this Act to Section
821.022, Health and Safety Code, applies only to a warrant for
seizure of an animal issued on or after the effective date of this
Act. A warrant for seizure of an animal issued before the effective
date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the warrant was
issued, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 821.025,
Health and Safety Code, applies only to a request for an appeal made
on or after the effective date of this Act. A request for an appeal
made before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
effect when the appeal was made, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.