By Van de Putte                                        H.B. No. 749
         76R4112 DWS-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the sale of certain items at a flea market; providing a
 1-3     penalty.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 35, Business & Commerce
 1-6     Code, is amended by adding Section 35.55 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 35.55.  SALE OF ITEMS AT FLEA MARKET.  (a) In this
 1-8     section, "flea market" means a location at which booths or similar
 1-9     spaces are rented or otherwise made available temporarily to two or
1-10     more persons and at which the persons offer tangible personal
1-11     property for sale.
1-12           (b)  A person commits an offense if the person sells or
1-13     offers for sale at a flea market:
1-14                 (1)  packaged food of a type usually consumed by
1-15     children younger than two years of age;
1-16                 (2)  a drug, cosmetic, or device, as those terms are
1-17     defined by Section 431.002, Health and Safety Code; or
1-18                 (3)  an item that has an expiration date.
1-19           (c)  A person who provides spaces at a flea market commits an
1-20     offense if the person knowingly permits at the flea market a sale
1-21     prohibited by Subsection (b).
1-22           (d)  It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (b) or
1-23     (c) that:
1-24                 (1)  the person selling the item:
 2-1                       (A)  is authorized in writing to sell the item at
 2-2     retail by the manufacturer of the item or the manufacturer's
 2-3     authorized distributor;
 2-4                       (B)  the authorization states the person's name;
 2-5     and
 2-6                       (C)  the person provides for examination the
 2-7     authorization to any person at the flea market who requests to see
 2-8     the authorization; or
 2-9                 (2)  only a sample of the item or a catalog or brochure
2-10     displaying the item was available at the flea market and the item
2-11     sold was not delivered to the buyer at the flea market.
2-12           (e)  A person commits an offense if the person provides to
2-13     another person an authorization under Subsection (d)(1) and:
2-14                 (1)  the authorization is forged or contains a false
2-15     statement; or
2-16                 (2)  the person displaying the authorization obtained
2-17     the authorization by fraud.
2-18           (f)  An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
2-19     punishable by a fine of not more than $100.
2-20           (g)  A law enforcement agency investigating a violation of
2-21     this section shall maintain a record of the investigation.  The
2-22     record is public information.
2-23           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-24           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-25     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-26     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-27     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-1     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.