By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 1616
(Klick)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to powers and duties of governmental entities during a
public health disaster; providing civil penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 418, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 418.1012 and 418.1013 to read as
follows:
Sec. 418.1012. DEFINITION. Notwithstanding Section
418.004, in this subchapter, the term "disaster" does not include
an epidemic or the spread of a communicable disease.
Sec. 418.1013. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This
subchapter does not apply to a public health disaster as defined by
Section 81.003, Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 2. Section 81.083(l), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(l) An order under Subsection (k) must be in writing and be
delivered personally or by registered or certified mail to each
member of the group, or the member's parent, legal guardian, or
managing conservator if the member is a minor. If the name,
address, and county of residence of any member of the group is
unknown at the time the order is issued, the department or health
authority must publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation
in the county that includes the area of the suspected exposure and
any other county in which the department or health authority
suspects a member of the group resides. The notice must contain the
following information:
(1) that the department or health authority has
reasonable cause to believe that a group of individuals is ill with,
has been exposed to, or is the carrier of a communicable disease;
(2) the suspected time and place of exposure to the
disease;
(3) a copy of any orders under Subsection (k);
(4) instructions to an individual to provide the
individual's name, address, and county of residence to the
department or health authority if the individual knows or
reasonably suspects that the individual was at the place of the
suspected exposure at the time of the suspected exposure;
(5) that the department or health authority may
request that an application for court orders under Subchapter G be
filed for the group, if applicable; and
(6) that a civil [criminal] penalty applies to an
individual who:
(A) is a member of the group; and
(B) knowingly refuses to perform or allow the
performance of the control measures in the order.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 81.085, Health and Safety
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 81.085. AREA QUARANTINE; CIVIL [CRIMINAL] PENALTY.
SECTION 4. Section 81.085(h), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(h) A person is liable to this state for a civil penalty of
not more than $500 [commits an offense] if the person knowingly
fails or refuses to obey a rule, order, or instruction of the
department or an order or instruction of a health authority issued
under a department rule and published during an area quarantine
under this section. On request of the department or a health
authority, the attorney general or the district or county attorney
for the county in which the violation occurs may:
(1) sue to collect the civil penalty; and
(2) recover reasonable investigation costs,
attorney's fees, and witness and deposition fees incurred by the
attorney general, district or county attorney, department, or
health authority, as applicable, in the civil action [An offense
under this subsection is a felony of the third degree].
SECTION 5. Sections 81.087, 81.088, and 81.089, Health and
Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 81.087. VIOLATION OF CONTROL MEASURE ORDERS; CIVIL
[CRIMINAL] PENALTY. (a) A person is liable to this state for a
civil penalty of not more than $500 [commits an offense] if the
person knowingly refuses to perform or allow the performance of
certain control measures ordered by the department or a health
authority [or the department] under Sections 81.083-81.086.
(b) On request of the department or a health authority, the
attorney general or the district or county attorney for the county
in which the violation occurs may:
(1) sue to collect the civil penalty; and
(2) recover reasonable investigation costs,
attorney's fees, and witness and deposition fees incurred by the
attorney general, district or county attorney, department, or
health authority, as applicable, in the civil action [An offense
under this section is a Class B misdemeanor].
Sec. 81.088. REMOVAL, ALTERATION, OR DESTRUCTION OF
QUARANTINE DEVICES; CIVIL [CRIMINAL] PENALTY. (a) A person is
liable to this state for a civil penalty of not more than $500
[commits an offense] if the person knowingly or intentionally:
(1) removes, alters, or attempts to remove or alter an
object the person knows is a quarantine device, notice, or security
item in a manner that diminishes the effectiveness of the device,
notice, or item; or
(2) destroys an object the person knows is a
quarantine device, notice, or security item.
(b) On request of the department or a health authority, the
attorney general or the district or county attorney for the county
in which the violation occurs may:
(1) sue to collect the civil penalty; and
(2) recover reasonable investigation costs,
attorney's fees, and witness and deposition fees incurred by the
attorney general, district or county attorney, department, or
health authority, as applicable, in the civil action [An offense
under this section is a Class B misdemeanor].
Sec. 81.089. TRANSPORTATION; CIVIL [CRIMINAL] PENALTY. (a)
A person is liable to this state for a civil penalty of not more than
$500 [commits an offense] if, before notifying the department or
health authority at a port of entry or a place of first landing or
first arrival in this state, the person knowingly or intentionally:
(1) transports or causes to be transported into this
state an object the person knows or suspects may be infected or
contaminated with a communicable disease that is a threat to the
public health;
(2) transports or causes to be transported into this
state an individual who the person knows has or is the carrier of a
communicable disease that is a threat to the public health; or
(3) transports or causes to be transported into this
state a person, animal, or object in a private or common carrier or
a private conveyance that the person knows is or suspects may be
infected or contaminated with a communicable disease that is a
threat to the public health.
(b) On request of the department or a health authority, the
attorney general or the district or county attorney for the county
in which the violation occurs may:
(1) sue to collect the civil penalty; and
(2) recover reasonable investigation costs,
attorney's fees, and witness and deposition fees incurred by the
attorney general, district or county attorney, department, or
health authority, as applicable, in the civil action [An offense
under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, except that if the
person acts with the intent to harm or defraud another, the offense
is a felony of the third degree].
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a violation of law that occurs on or after the effective date of
this Act. A violation of law that occurs before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law as it existed on the date the
violation occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose. For purposes of this section, a violation of law
occurred before the effective date of this Act if any element of the
violation occurred before that date.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.