By Seidlits                                           H.B. No. 2108
       74R7156 JRD-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to regulating the sale of livestock at auction.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Sections 146.004 and 146.007, Agriculture Code,
    1-5  are repealed as follows:
    1-6        <Sec. 146.004.  SALE OF ANIMALS AT AUCTION.  (a)  An
    1-7  auctioneer who sells a horse, mule, or ox at auction shall require
    1-8  the party for whom the sale is made to provide a signed, written
    1-9  statement of the manner in which the animal was acquired and the
   1-10  name and address of the person from whom the animal was acquired.>
   1-11        <(b)  Not later than the 10th day after the day on which the
   1-12  animal is sold at auction, the auctioneer shall file the statement
   1-13  required by Subsection (a) of this section with the clerk of the
   1-14  county court.  The statement must be attested as to genuineness by
   1-15  the auctioneer and must be accompanied by a certificate containing
   1-16  a description of the animal sold and the name and address of the
   1-17  seller and the purchaser.>
   1-18        <Sec. 146.007.  PENALTY FOR SELLING ANIMAL AT AUCTION WITHOUT
   1-19  STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP.  (a)  A person commits an offense if, as an
   1-20  auctioneer, the person fails to require a statement from the
   1-21  seller, or fails to timely file a statement with the clerk of the
   1-22  county court, in accordance with Section 146.004 of this code.>
   1-23        <(b)  An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
   1-24  punishable by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $100.>
    2-1        SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
    2-2  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    2-3  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    2-4  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    2-5  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
    2-6  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
    2-7  passage, and it is so enacted.