By: Bailey H.B. No. 186
73R1513 DLF-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to civil remedies for certain public nuisances.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 125.021, Civil Practice and Remedies
1-5 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 125.021. Public Nuisance. (a) The habitual use or the
1-7 threatened or contemplated habitual use of any place for any of the
1-8 following purposes is a public nuisance:
1-9 (1) gambling, gambling promotion, or communicating
1-10 gambling information prohibited by law;
1-11 (2) promotion or aggravated promotion of prostitution;
1-12 (3) compelling prostitution;
1-13 (4) commercial manufacture, commercial distribution,
1-14 or commercial exhibition of obscene material;
1-15 (5) commercial exhibition of live dances or other acts
1-16 depicting real or simulated sexual intercourse or deviate sexual
1-17 intercourse;
1-18 (6) engaging in a voluntary fight between a man and a
1-19 bull if the fight is for a thing of value or a championship, if a
1-20 thing of value is wagered on the fight, or if an admission fee for
1-21 the fight is directly or indirectly charged, as prohibited by law;
1-22 <or>
1-23 (7) delivering or using a controlled substance in
1-24 violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code;
2-1 (8) discharging a firearm;
2-2 (9) using a deadly weapon for an unlawful purpose,
2-3 including frightening, harming, or threatening to harm a person; or
2-4 (10) displaying a firearm or deadly weapon in a manner
2-5 intended to alarm a person.
2-6 (b) Use of a place for discharging a firearm or displaying a
2-7 firearm or deadly weapon is not a public nuisance if the firearm is
2-8 discharged or displayed or the deadly weapon is displayed during
2-9 the course of:
2-10 (1) wildlife hunting authorized by law;
2-11 (2) the official law enforcement duties of a law
2-12 enforcement officer;
2-13 (3) the provision of security services authorized
2-14 under the Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act
2-15 (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); or
2-16 (4) any other activity in which the discharge or
2-17 display of a firearm or the display of a deadly weapon is
2-18 authorized by law.
2-19 (c) This section does not apply to discharge of a firearm on
2-20 a bona fide firing range, skeet shooting range, or other sport
2-21 shooting range.
2-22 (d) In this section:
2-23 (1) "Firearm" has the meaning assigned by Section
2-24 46.01, Penal Code.
2-25 (2) "Deadly weapon" includes a club, explosive weapon,
2-26 knife, knuckles, or hoax bomb as those terms are defined by Section
2-27 46.01, Penal Code.
3-1 SECTION 2. Section 125.041, Civil Practice and Remedies
3-2 Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-3 Sec. 125.041. Public Nuisance. (a) For the purposes of
3-4 this subchapter, a public nuisance is considered to exist at a
3-5 place if one or more of the following acts occurs at that place on
3-6 a regular basis:
3-7 (1) gambling, gambling promotion, or communication of
3-8 gambling information, as prohibited by Chapter 47, Penal Code;
3-9 (2) promotion or aggravated promotion of prostitution,
3-10 as prohibited by Chapter 43, Penal Code;
3-11 (3) compelling prostitution, as prohibited by Chapter
3-12 43, Penal Code;
3-13 (4) commercial manufacture, commercial distribution,
3-14 or commercial exhibition of material that is obscene, as defined by
3-15 Section 43.21, Penal Code;
3-16 (5) commercial exhibition of a live dance or other act
3-17 in which a person engages in real or simulated sexual intercourse
3-18 or deviate sexual intercourse, as defined by Section 43.01, Penal
3-19 Code; <or>
3-20 (6) manufacture, delivery, or use of a controlled
3-21 substance in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code;
3-22 (7) discharging a firearm;
3-23 (8) using a deadly weapon for an unlawful purpose,
3-24 including frightening, harming, or threatening to harm a person; or
3-25 (9) displaying a firearm or deadly weapon in a manner
3-26 intended to alarm a person.
3-27 (b) Use of a place for discharging a firearm or displaying a
4-1 firearm or deadly weapon is not a public nuisance if the firearm is
4-2 discharged or displayed or the deadly weapon is displayed during
4-3 the course of:
4-4 (1) wildlife hunting authorized by law;
4-5 (2) the official law enforcement duties of a law
4-6 enforcement officer;
4-7 (3) the provision of security services authorized
4-8 under the Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act
4-9 (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); or
4-10 (4) any other activity in which the discharge or
4-11 display of a firearm or the display of a deadly weapon is
4-12 authorized by law.
4-13 (c) This section does not apply to discharge of a firearm on
4-14 a bona fide firing range, skeet shooting range, or other sport
4-15 shooting range.
4-16 (d) In this section:
4-17 (1) "Firearm" has the meaning assigned by Section
4-18 46.01, Penal Code.
4-19 (2) "Deadly weapon" includes a club, explosive weapon,
4-20 knife, knuckles, or hoax bomb as those terms are defined by Section
4-21 46.01, Penal Code.
4-22 SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 125, Civil Practice and
4-23 Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 125.046 to read as
4-24 follows:
4-25 Sec. 125.046. ADDITIONAL REMEDIES; RECEIVER. (a) If, in
4-26 any judicial proceeding under this subchapter, a court determines
4-27 that a person is maintaining a place at which a public nuisance
5-1 exists or existed, the court may, on its own motion or on the
5-2 motion of any party, render any order reasonable and necessary to
5-3 abate the nuisance or to prevent incidents relating to the public
5-4 nuisance from reoccurring, including the appointment of a receiver
5-5 to manage the place at which the public nuisance exists or existed.
5-6 (b) A receiver appointed under this section may not be
5-7 appointed for a period longer than one year.
5-8 (c) The court shall determine the management duties of the
5-9 receiver, the amount to be paid the receiver, and the payment
5-10 periods. The receiver shall be paid out of money deposited into
5-11 the registry of the court by the owner of the place at which the
5-12 public nuisance exists or existed.
5-13 SECTION 4. This Act applies only to a cause of action that
5-14 accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. An action that
5-15 accrued before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
5-16 law in effect at the time the action accrued, and that law is
5-17 continued in effect for that purpose.
5-18 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-23 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-24 passage, and it is so enacted.