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Enrolled Bill Summary

Enrolled Bill Summary

Legislative Session: 88(R)

Senate Bill 997	Senate Author: West
Effective: 9-1-23	House Sponsor: Leach

Senate Bill 997, the Kobe and Gianna Bryant Act, amends the Health and Safety Code to prohibit an individual from publishing a photograph of human remains that the individual obtained while acting within the course and scope of the individual's duties as an officer or employee of the state or a political subdivision of the state. The bill makes an individual who violates the prohibition liable for a civil penalty in an amount capped at $10,000 for each violation. The bill authorizes the attorney general or the appropriate county or district attorney to sue to collect the civil penalty and to recover attorney's fees and costs incurred in obtaining relief. The bill establishes certain defenses to liability for the civil penalty but prohibits a defendant from asserting official immunity as a defense in an action brought under these provisions of the bill.