By: Cain H.B. No. 1191
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of raising or keeping six or fewer
chickens by a political subdivision or property owners'
association.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Chicken Freedom
Act.
SECTION 2. The heading to Chapter 251, Agriculture Code, is
amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 251. EFFECT OF NUISANCE ACTIONS AND GOVERNMENTAL
REQUIREMENTS ON CERTAIN [PREEXISTING] AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS
SECTION 3. Chapter 251, Agriculture Code, is amended by
adding Section 251.007 to read as follows:
Sec. 251.007. SIX CHICKENS ALLOWED. (a) Notwithstanding
any other law and except as provided by Subsection (b), a political
subdivision may not impose a governmental requirement that
prohibits an individual from raising or keeping six or fewer
chickens in the boundaries of the political subdivision.
(b) A municipality may impose reasonable governmental
requirements on the raising or keeping of poultry in the boundaries
of the municipality that do not have the effect of prohibiting the
raising or keeping of six or fewer chickens, including:
(1) a limit on the number of chickens an individual may
raise or keep in excess of six;
(2) a prohibition on breeding poultry; or
(3) a prohibition on raising or keeping roosters.
(c) A governmental requirement adopted by a political
subdivision that violates Subsection (a) is void.
SECTION 4. Chapter 202, Property Code, is amended by adding
Section 202.024 to read as follows:
Sec. 202.024. SIX CHICKENS ALLOWED ON SINGLE-FAMILY
RESIDENTIAL LOT. (a) Notwithstanding Section 202.002(a), this
section applies only to a restrictive covenant created on or after
September 1, 2023.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by
Subsection (c), a property owners' association may not adopt or
enforce a restrictive covenant that prohibits the raising or
keeping of six or fewer chickens on a single-family residential
lot.
(c) A property owners' association may adopt and enforce a
restrictive covenant imposing reasonable requirements on the
raising or keeping of poultry on a single-family residential lot
that do not have the effect of prohibiting the raising or keeping of
six or fewer chickens, including:
(1) a limit on the number of chickens that may be
raised or kept in excess of six;
(2) a prohibition on breeding poultry;
(3) a prohibition on raising or keeping roosters; or
(4) the minimum distance between a chicken coop and
another lot.
(d) A provision that violates Subsection (b) is void.
SECTION 5. Section 251.007, Agriculture Code, as added by
this Act, applies to a governmental requirement adopted before, on,
or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 6. 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, 2023.