By: Springer S.B. No. 840
(In the Senate - Filed February 26, 2021; March 11, 2021,
read first time and referred to Committee on Water, Agriculture &
Rural Affairs; April 20, 2021, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 20, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the possession, transportation, and release of certain
nonindigenous snakes; increasing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 43.851(a), Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission by rule shall establish permits that
allow permit holders to possess or transport in this state a live
nonindigenous snake, including a hybrid of any kind, that is:
(1) venomous [snake]; or
(2) a constrictor that is one of the following:
(A) African rock python, Python sebae;
(B) Asiatic rock python, Python molurus;
(C) Burmese python, Python bivittatus;
(D) green anaconda, Eunectes murinus;
(E) [(D)] reticulated python, Python
reticulatus; or
(F) [(E)] southern African python, Python
natalensis.
SECTION 2. Section 43.853, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 43.853. RELEASE FROM CAPTIVITY. A person may not
intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence
release or allow the release from captivity of a nonindigenous
snake [covered by this subchapter].
SECTION 3. Section 43.856, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or (c), a person
who violates this subchapter or a rule adopted under this
subchapter commits an offense that is a Class C Parks and Wildlife
Code misdemeanor.
(c) If it is shown at the trial of the defendant for a
violation of this subchapter or a rule adopted under this
subchapter that the defendant has engaged in a commercial activity
without holding a required permit and the defendant has been
previously convicted of a violation of this subchapter or a rule
adopted under this subchapter, on conviction the defendant shall be
punished for a Class B Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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