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Senate Bill 1160 |
Senate Author: Seliger |
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Effective: 5-20-11 |
House Sponsor: Jackson, Jim |
Senate Bill 1160 amends the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to specify that an owner, lessee, or occupant of land does not owe a duty of care to a trespasser on the land and is not liable for any injury to a trespasser on the land, except that an owner, lessee, or occupant owes a duty to refrain from injuring a trespasser wilfully, wantonly, or through gross negligence. The bill creates an exception to this limitation on liability for injury to a child caused by a highly dangerous artificial condition on the land under specified conditions.
Previous law established a limitation on liability of a landowner for damages arising from an incident or accident caused by livestock of the landowner due to an act or omission of a firefighter or a peace officer who entered the landowner's property with or without the landowner's permission, regardless of whether the damage occurs on the landowner's property. Senate Bill 1160 extends and broadens this limitation to include any damage or injury to any person or property that arises from the actions of a peace officer or federal law enforcement officer when the officer enters or causes another person to enter the agricultural land with or without the permission of the owner, lessee, or occupant. The bill further applies this limitation on liability to any damage or injury to any person or property that arises from the actions of an individual who, because of the actions of a peace officer or federal law enforcement officer, enters or causes another person to enter the agricultural land without the appropriate permission.