By: Uresti S.B. No. 880
(In the Senate - Filed February 14, 2017; February 28, 2017,
read first time and referred to Committee on Agriculture, Water &
Rural Affairs; May 3, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0,
1 present not voting; May 3, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 880 By: RodrÃguez
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a documented member of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe
of Texas hunting certain deer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 42.001(1), Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(1) "Resident" means:
(A) an individual who has resided continuously in
this state for more than six months immediately before applying for
a hunting license;
(B) a member of the United States armed forces on
active duty;
(C) a dependent of a member of the United States
armed forces on active duty;
(D) if approved by the director, a terminally ill
individual who is participating in an event sponsored by a
charitable nonprofit organization; [or]
(E) a member of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of
Texas who possesses documentation of membership sanctioned by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs; or
(F) a member of any other category of individuals
that the commission by regulation designates as residents.
SECTION 2. Section 61.021, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 61.021. TAKING WILDLIFE RESOURCES PROHIBITED.
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or permitted under a
proclamation issued by the commission under this chapter, no person
may hunt, catch, or possess a game bird or game animal, fish, marine
animal, or other aquatic life at any time or in any place covered by
this chapter.
(b) A documented member of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of
Texas who holds a license under Section 42.002 may hunt antlerless
white-tailed deer for religious ceremonial purposes on any day of
the year between one-half hour before sunrise and one-half hour
after sunset. A documented member of the Kickapoo Traditional
Tribe of Texas hunting antlerless white-tailed deer under this
subsection:
(1) shall comply with all other provisions of this
code and proclamations adopted under this code;
(2) shall notify:
(A) a local game warden, deputy game warden, or
special game warden at least 24 hours before hunting antlerless
white-tailed deer at a time of the year when a person who holds a
license under Section 42.002 but who is not a documented member of
the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas may not hunt antlerless
white-tailed deer; and
(B) the department not later than September 1st
of each year of the member's intent to hunt antlerless white-tailed
deer for the following calendar year; and
(3) may not hunt antlerless white-tailed deer outside
an open hunting season in a chronic wasting disease containment or
surveillance zone, as determined by the department.
(c) Subsection (b) applies only to hunting on land that is:
(1) owned or leased by the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe
of Texas; and
(2) located in a county that:
(A) borders the United Mexican States and has a
population of more than 50,000 but less than 60,000; or
(B) is adjacent to a county described by
Paragraph (A) and has a population of less than 9,000.
SECTION 3. Section 61.057(a), Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 61.021 and [in] Subsection
(c) [of this section], no person may hunt an antlerless deer or
antelope in this state without first having acquired an antlerless
deer or antelope permit issued by the department on a form provided
by the department.
SECTION 4. 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, 2017.
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