By Elkins H.B. No. 2403
74R4568 CAG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of the voters of a county with a
1-3 population of 2.8 million or more to authorize the county to
1-4 prohibit the sale, possession, or use of fireworks; providing a
1-5 criminal penalty.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 240, Local Government Code,
1-8 is amended by adding Section 240.9045 to read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 240.9045. ADDITIONAL REGULATION OF SALE, USE, OR
1-10 POSSESSION OF FIREWORKS. (a) The commissioners court of a county
1-11 with a population of 2.8 million or more by order may call a county
1-12 election on the question of prohibiting the sale, possession, or
1-13 use of fireworks in any part of the unincorporated area of the
1-14 county. The commissioners court shall order the ballot for the
1-15 election to be printed to permit voting for or against the
1-16 proposition: Authorizing the commissioners court of the county to
1-17 prohibit the sale, use, or possession of fireworks in any part of
1-18 the unincorporated area of (name of county) County.
1-19 (b) If a majority of the votes received at the election are
1-20 in favor of the proposition, the commissioners court shall, by
1-21 order, prohibit the sale, use, or possession of fireworks in any
1-22 part of the unincorporated area of the county. If the votes
1-23 received in favor of the proposition are not a majority, the
1-24 commissioners court may not act under this section.
2-1 (c) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
2-2 violates a prohibition established by an order adopted under this
2-3 section. An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
2-4 (d) This section does not apply to:
2-5 (1) toy pistols, toy canes, or toy guns;
2-6 (2) model rockets and model rocket motors designed,
2-7 sold, and used for the purpose of propelling recoverable aero
2-8 models;
2-9 (3) propelling or expelling charges used in
2-10 construction, excavation, or demolition;
2-11 (4) novelties and trick noisemakers;
2-12 (5) the sale, at wholesale, of any type of fireworks
2-13 by a resident manufacturer, distributor, importer, or jobber if the
2-14 fireworks are intended for shipment directly out of state in
2-15 accordance with regulations of the United States Department of
2-16 Transportation;
2-17 (6) the sale, and use in emergency situations, of
2-18 pyrotechnic signaling devices or distress signals for marine,
2-19 aviation, or highway use;
2-20 (7) the use of fusees and railway torpedoes by
2-21 railroads;
2-22 (8) the sale of blank cartridges for use in radio,
2-23 television, film, or theater productions, for signal or ceremonial
2-24 purposes in athletic events, or for industrial purposes;
2-25 (9) the use of any pyrotechnic device by military
2-26 organizations; or
2-27 (10) the use, in an organized fireworks display, of
3-1 any pyrotechnic device by a licensed and bonded pyrotechnic display
3-2 organization.
3-3 (e) In this section, "fireworks" means any composition or
3-4 device primarily designed for entertainment purposes that produces
3-5 a visible or audible effect by combustion, explosion, deflagration,
3-6 or detonation.
3-7 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
3-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-12 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-13 passage, and it is so enacted.