By Lewis of Tarrant                              H.B. No. 983

      75R1442 PEP-F                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to regulating customer access to aerosol paint and

 1-3     creating an offense for the possession of aerosol paint by a person

 1-4     younger than 18 years of age; providing penalties.

 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-6           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 485, Health and Safety

 1-7     Code, is amended by adding Section 485.019 to read as follows:

 1-8           Sec. 485.019.  RESTRICTION OF ACCESS TO AEROSOL PAINT.

 1-9     (a)  A business establishment that holds a permit under Section

1-10     485.012 and that displays aerosol paint shall display the paint:

1-11                 (1)  in a place that is in the line of sight of a

1-12     cashier or in the line of sight from a workstation normally

1-13     continuously occupied during business hours;

1-14                 (2)  in a manner that makes the paint accessible to a

1-15     patron of the business establishment only with the assistance of an

1-16     employee of the establishment; or

1-17                 (3)  in an area electronically protected, or viewed by

1-18     surveillance equipment that is monitored, during business hours.

1-19           (b)  A court may issue a warning to a business establishment

1-20     or impose a civil penalty of $100 on the business establishment for

1-21     a first violation of this section.  After receiving a warning or

1-22     penalty for the first violation, the business establishment is

1-23     liable to the state for a civil penalty of $100 for each subsequent

1-24     violation.

 2-1           (c)  For the third violation of this section in a calendar

 2-2     year, a court may issue an injunction prohibiting the business

 2-3     establishment from selling aerosol paint for a period of not more

 2-4     than two years.  A business establishment that violates the

 2-5     injunction is liable to the state for a civil penalty of $100, in

 2-6     addition to any other penalty authorized by law, for each day the

 2-7     violation continues.

 2-8           (d)  If a business establishment fails to pay a civil penalty

 2-9     under this section, the court may issue an injunction prohibiting

2-10     the establishment from selling aerosol paint until the

2-11     establishment pays the penalty, attorney's fees, and court costs.

2-12           (e)  The attorney general or the district or county attorney

2-13     for the county in which a violation of this section is alleged to

2-14     have occurred may file suit for the issuance of a warning, the

2-15     collection of a penalty, or the issuance of an injunction.

2-16           (f)  A penalty collected under this section shall be sent to

2-17     the comptroller for deposit in the state treasury to the credit of

2-18     the general revenue fund.

2-19           SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 485, Health and Safety

2-20     Code, is amended by adding Section 485.0331 to read as follows:

2-21           Sec. 485.0331.  POSSESSION OF AEROSOL PAINT BY A MINOR.

2-22     (a)  A person who is younger than 18 years of age commits an

2-23     offense if the person knowingly possesses aerosol paint.

2-24           (b)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this

2-25     section that at the time of the commission of the offense, the

2-26     person possessed the aerosol paint while under the direct

2-27     supervision of an adult having supervisory responsibility over the

 3-1     person.

 3-2           (c)  An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

 3-3           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 3-4           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-5     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-6     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-7     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-8     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.