By Kamel H.B. No. 300
75R1681 MLR-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of an employee of the Parks and Wildlife
1-3 Department to enter land and water and to collect information.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 12.103, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 12.103. ENTERING LAND; USE OF INFORMATION OBTAINED BY
1-8 ENTRY; CIVIL PENALTY. (a) To enforce the game and fish laws of
1-9 the state [and to conduct scientific investigations and research
1-10 regarding wild game or fish], an authorized employee of the
1-11 department may enter on any land or water where wild game or fish
1-12 are known to range or stray if the employee has probable cause to
1-13 suspect that a violation of the game and fish laws is in progress
1-14 or has just occurred. No action may be sustained against an
1-15 employee of the department to prevent his entering on land or water
1-16 when acting in his official capacity as described by this
1-17 subsection.
1-18 (b) An authorized [Except as provided by Subsection (d), the
1-19 department may use information collected by an] employee of the
1-20 department may not enter on privately owned land or water where
1-21 wild game or fish are known to range or stray [only] for the
1-22 purposes of scientific investigations and research, or for any
1-23 purpose other than the purpose described in Subsection (a), without
1-24 the express [and only if authorized in writing by the landowner or
2-1 the landowner's agent. Unless the department first obtains the]
2-2 written consent of the landowner or the landowner's agent[, the
2-3 department may not:]
2-4 [(1) use other incidental information obtained on the
2-5 land that does not pertain directly to the investigation or
2-6 research authorized under Subsection (a); or]
2-7 [(2) enter or permit the entry of any information that
2-8 does not pertain directly to the investigation or research
2-9 authorized under Subsection (a), into a database:]
2-10 [(A) maintained by the department and available
2-11 to a person other than a department employee;]
2-12 [(B) maintained by a natural heritage program
2-13 administered by the department; or]
2-14 [(C) established and maintained by any other
2-15 person].
2-16 [(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), information
2-17 collected under this section may only be reported or compiled in a
2-18 manner that prevents the identification of an individual parcel or
2-19 specific parcels of private property without the written consent of
2-20 the landowner or the landowner's agent.]
2-21 [(d) The department may collect and enter data as necessary
2-22 relating to the occurrence or harvest of natural resources in
2-23 public land or water. The department may collect and report
2-24 standardized annual wildlife survey information required by the
2-25 Pitman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. Section 669 et
2-26 seq.).]
2-27 [(e) The department is liable to a private landowner for a
3-1 civil penalty in the amount of $1,000 for a violation of this
3-2 section involving information collected by an employee of the
3-3 department on the landowner's property. A landowner may bring suit
3-4 to collect the penalty in the county in which the land is located
3-5 or the county in which the landowner resides.]
3-6 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
3-7 applies only to an authorized employee of the Parks and Wildlife
3-8 Department who enters land or water on or after that date. An
3-9 authorized employee of the Parks and Wildlife Department who enters
3-10 land or water before that date is governed by the law in effect on
3-11 the date the action was taken, and that law is continued in effect
3-12 for that purpose.
3-13 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.