| 1 | 1 | | By: Springer S.B. No. 1468 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to the taking of wildlife by an employee of the Parks and |
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| 7 | 7 | | Wildlife Department or by a person or agent of the person on the |
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| 8 | 8 | | person's property. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 12.013, Parks and Wildlife Code, is |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c), (d), |
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| 12 | 12 | | (e), and (f) to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (a) An employee of the department acting within the scope of |
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| 14 | 14 | | the employee's authority may possess, take, transport, release, and |
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| 15 | 15 | | manage any of the wildlife and fish in this state for public safety, |
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| 16 | 16 | | investigation, propagation, distribution, education, disease |
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| 17 | 17 | | diagnosis or prevention, or scientific purposes. |
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| 18 | 18 | | (c) An employee of the department acting within the scope of |
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| 19 | 19 | | the employee's authority may discharge a firearm to take wildlife |
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| 20 | 20 | | on a public road or right-of-way if the wildlife is: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) mortally injured; or |
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| 22 | 22 | | (2) behaving in a manner consistent with the wildlife |
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| 23 | 23 | | being diseased. |
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| 24 | 24 | | (d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a person or agent |
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| 25 | 25 | | of the person may take wildlife on the person's property if the |
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| 26 | 26 | | person: |
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| 27 | 27 | | (1) has written authorization from the department; and |
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| 28 | 28 | | (2) is participating under the supervision of a |
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| 29 | 29 | | department employee in a program or event designated by the |
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| 30 | 30 | | director as being conducted for the diagnosis, management, or |
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| 31 | 31 | | prevention of a disease in wildlife. |
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| 32 | 32 | | (e) Subsection (d) does not apply to a person or agent who is |
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| 33 | 33 | | a department employee. |
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| 34 | 34 | | (f) The commission may adopt rules to implement this |
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| 35 | 35 | | section. |
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| 36 | 36 | | SECTION 2. Section 62.0031(b), Parks and Wildlife Code, is |
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| 37 | 37 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 38 | 38 | | (b) This section does not apply to: |
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| 39 | 39 | | (1) the trapping of a raptor for educational or |
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| 40 | 40 | | sporting purposes as provided by Chapter 49; or |
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| 41 | 41 | | (2) an employee of the department taking wildlife as |
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| 42 | 42 | | provided by Section 12.013(c). |
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| 43 | 43 | | SECTION 3. Section 42.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
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| 44 | 44 | | Subsection (e-1) to read as follows: |
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| 45 | 45 | | (e-1) It is an exception to the application of Subsection |
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| 46 | 46 | | (a)(9) that, at the time the person engaged in conduct prohibited |
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| 47 | 47 | | under that subdivision, the person was an employee of the Parks and |
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| 48 | 48 | | Wildlife Department acting within the scope of the employee's |
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| 49 | 49 | | authority under Section 12.013(c), Parks and Wildlife Code. |
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| 50 | 50 | | SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 51 | 51 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 52 | 52 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 53 | 53 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 54 | 54 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 55 | 55 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 56 | 56 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 57 | 57 | | before that date. |
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| 58 | 58 | | SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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