By: Perry S.B. No. 970 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to the failure to handle certain animals in accordance with rules of the Texas Animal Health Commission; amending provisions subject to a criminal penalty. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 161.041(c), Agriculture Code, is amended to read as follows: (c) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly fails to handle, in accordance with rules adopted by the commission, livestock, exotic livestock, domestic fowl, or exotic fowl: (1) infected with a disease listed in Subsection (a); (2) exposed, as defined by commission rule, to a disease listed in Subsection (a) if the commission has notified the person that the animal was exposed to the disease; or (3) subject to a testing requirement due to a risk of exposure, as defined by commission rule, to a specific disease if the commission has notified the person of the testing requirement. 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 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.