By: Hegar S.B. No. 897
(In the Senate - Filed February 23, 2011; March 1, 2011,
read first time and referred to Committee on Agriculture and Rural
Affairs; April 5, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 4, Nays 0; April 5, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to fishing tournament fraud; providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 66.119, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
transferred to Subchapter A, Chapter 66, Parks and Wildlife Code,
redesignated as Section 66.023, Parks and Wildlife Code, and
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 66.023 [66.119]. FRAUD IN [FRESHWATER] FISHING
TOURNAMENTS. (a) In this section, "fishing tournament" means a
contest in which a prize is to be awarded to one or more
participants in the contest based on the weight, length, number, or
type of [freshwater] fish caught by the participants or based on any
other criteria applicable to the fish caught.
(b) A person commits an offense if, with intent to affect
the outcome of a fishing tournament:
(1) the person provides, offers to provide, sells, or
offers to sell a fish to a participant in the tournament for the
purpose of representing that the fish was caught by the participant
in the course of the tournament;
(2) the person, as a participant in the tournament,
accepts or agrees to accept a fish from another person for the
purpose of representing that the fish was caught by the participant
in the course of the tournament; [or]
(3) the person, as a participant in the tournament,
represents that a fish was caught by the person in the course of the
tournament when in fact the fish was not caught by that person or
the fish was not caught in the course of that tournament;
(4) the person alters the length or weight of a fish
for the purpose of representing that the fish as entered in the
tournament was that length or weight when caught; or
(5) the person enters a fish in the tournament that was
taken in violation of any provision of this code or a proclamation
or regulation of the commission adopted under this code.
(c) A person commits an offense if the person sponsors or
conducts a fishing tournament and knows of the occurrence in the
tournament of activity prohibited by Subsection (b) of this section
and does not immediately notify a law enforcement officer
commissioned by the director of its occurrence.
(d) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor,
except that if the offense occurred during a tournament in which any
prize or combination of prizes to be awarded for any one category
for which an award is given, whether the prize or prizes are to an
individual or a team, is worth $10,000 or more in money or goods,
the offense is a felony of the third degree.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act 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
covered by the law in effect when 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 was committed before that
date.
SECTION 3. 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.
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