By Hirschi H.B. No. 560 75R2888 MLS-D A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to limiting the liability of certain persons for bovine 1-3 activities. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Title 4, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is 1-6 amended by adding Chapter 90 to read as follows: 1-7 CHAPTER 90. LIABILITY FOR BOVINE ACTIVITIES 1-8 Sec. 90.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: 1-9 (1) "Bovine activity" means: 1-10 (A) a bovine animal show, fair, competition, 1-11 performance, or parade that involves any breed of bovine animal and 1-12 any bovine discipline, including rodeos, buckouts, jackpots, and 1-13 riding for practice; 1-14 (B) a bull riding school; 1-15 (C) boarding bovine animals; 1-16 (D) riding, inspecting, or evaluating a bovine 1-17 animal belonging to another, without regard to whether the owner 1-18 receives monetary consideration or other thing of value for the use 1-19 of the bovine animal or permits a prospective purchaser of the 1-20 bovine animal to ride, inspect, or evaluate the bovine animal; or 1-21 (E) rodeos and single event competitions, 1-22 including team roping, steer wrestling, calf roping, single steer 1-23 roping, buckouts, jackpots, and riding for practice, without regard 1-24 to whether the participant is compensated. 2-1 (2) "Bovine activity sponsor" means: 2-2 (A) a person or group that sponsors, promotes, 2-3 organizes, or provides the facilities for a bovine activity, 2-4 including bovine facilities for a 4-H club, junior or adult 2-5 livestock show, county or state livestock show or fair, or high 2-6 school or college class, program, or activity, without regard to 2-7 whether the person operates for profit; or 2-8 (B) a person or group that operates or instructs 2-9 at a facility used for a bovine activity, including a livestock 2-10 show, fair, or arena. 2-11 (3) "Bovine animal" means a bull, cow, steer, or calf. 2-12 (4) "Bovine owner" means a person who owns a bovine 2-13 animal and: 2-14 (A) uses the bovine animal for practice riding, 2-15 riding school, competitive riding, or riding to inspect or evaluate 2-16 the bovine animal; or 2-17 (B) rents or loans a bovine animal to a rodeo 2-18 producer or stock contractor for the purpose of competitive riding. 2-19 (5) "Engages in a bovine activity" means riding, 2-20 handling, training, hauling, assisting in the medical treatment of, 2-21 or assisting a participant or sponsor with a bovine animal. The 2-22 term includes management of a show involving bovine animals. The 2-23 term does not include being a spectator at a bovine activity unless 2-24 the spectator is in an unauthorized area and in immediate proximity 2-25 to the bovine activity. 2-26 (6) "Participant" means a person who engages in a 2-27 bovine activity, without regard to whether the person is an amateur 3-1 or professional or whether the person pays an entry fee for the 3-2 activity or participates in the activity for free. 3-3 Sec. 90.002. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. Except as provided by 3-4 Section 90.003, any person, including a bovine activity sponsor or 3-5 a bovine owner, is immune from suit and not liable for property 3-6 damage or damages arising from the personal injury or death of a 3-7 participant if the property damage, injury, or death results from 3-8 the dangers or conditions that are an inherent risk of bovine 3-9 activity, including: 3-10 (1) the propensity of a bovine animal to behave in 3-11 ways that may result in personal injury or death to a person; 3-12 (2) the unpredictability of a bovine animal's reaction 3-13 to a sound, a sudden movement, or an unfamiliar object, person, or 3-14 other animal; 3-15 (3) certain land conditions and hazards; 3-16 (4) a collision with another animal or an object; or 3-17 (5) the potential of a participant to act in a 3-18 negligent manner that may injure the participant or another person, 3-19 including the failure to act within the participant's ability. 3-20 Sec. 90.003. EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. A 3-21 person, including a bovine activity sponsor or a bovine owner, is 3-22 liable for property damage or damages arising from the personal 3-23 injury or death caused by a participant in a bovine activity if: 3-24 (1) the injury or death was caused by faulty equipment 3-25 or tack used in the bovine activity, the person provided the 3-26 equipment or tack, and the person knew or should have known that 3-27 the equipment or tack was faulty; 4-1 (2) the person provided the bovine animal and the 4-2 person did not make a reasonable and prudent effort to determine 4-3 the ability of the participant to engage safely in the bovine 4-4 activity, taking into account the participant's representations of 4-5 ability; 4-6 (3) the injury or death was caused by a dangerous 4-7 latent condition of land for which warning signs or written notices 4-8 were not conspicuously posted and the land was owned, leased, or 4-9 otherwise under the control of the person at the time of the 4-10 property damage, injury, or death and the person knew of the 4-11 dangerous latent condition; 4-12 (4) the person committed an act or omission with 4-13 wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of the participant and 4-14 that act or omission caused the property damage, injury, or death; 4-15 or 4-16 (5) the person intentionally caused the property 4-17 damage, injury, or death. 4-18 Sec. 90.004. WARNING NOTICE. (a) A bovine owner or bovine 4-19 activity sponsor who manages or controls a stable, corral, or arena 4-20 where the owner or sponsor conducts a bovine activity shall post 4-21 and maintain a clearly visible sign that contains the warning 4-22 described in Subsection (c). The bovine owner or bovine activity 4-23 sponsor must post the sign in a location on or near the stable, 4-24 corral, or arena. 4-25 (b) A bovine owner or bovine activity sponsor shall include 4-26 the warning described in Subsection (c) in every written contract 4-27 that the owner or sponsor enters into with a participant for 5-1 professional services, instruction, or the rental or loan of a 5-2 bovine animal. The warning must be legible and included without 5-3 regard to whether the contract involves bovine activities on or off 5-4 the location of the business of the bovine owner or bovine activity 5-5 sponsor. 5-6 (c) The warning must be as follows: 5-7 WARNING 5-8 UNDER TEXAS LAW (CHAPTER 90, CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE), A 5-9 BOVINE OWNER OR BOVINE ACTIVITY SPONSOR IS NOT LIABLE FOR PROPERTY 5-10 DAMAGE, AN INJURY, OR THE DEATH OF A PARTICIPANT IN BOVINE 5-11 ACTIVITIES RESULTING FROM THE INHERENT RISKS OF BOVINE ACTIVITIES. 5-12 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and 5-13 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after that 5-14 date. A cause of action that accrues before the effective date of 5-15 this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the action 5-16 accrued, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose. 5-17 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 5-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 5-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 5-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 5-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.