By Farrar                                             H.B. No. 1868
         76R6385 SMJ-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to county regulation of the keeping of wild animals.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 240.001, Local Government Code, is
 1-5     amended to read as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 240.001.  DEFINITION.  In this subchapter, "wild animal"
 1-7     means a nondomestic animal, including a lion, tiger, ocelot,
 1-8     cougar, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, hyena, bear, lesser panda,
 1-9     binturong, wolf, ape, elephant, or rhinoceros, that the
1-10     commissioners court of a county determines is dangerous and is in
1-11     need of control in that county.
1-12           SECTION 2.  Sections 240.002 and 240.0025, Local Government
1-13     Code, are amended and reenacted as Section 240.002 to read as
1-14     follows:
1-15           Sec. 240.002.  REGULATION.  [(a)  The commissioners court of
1-16     a county by order may prohibit or regulate the keeping of a wild
1-17     animal:]
1-18                 [(1)  at a residence; or]
1-19                 [(2)  within 1,000 feet of a residence or public
1-20     school.]
1-21           [(b)  The order does not apply inside the limits of a
1-22     municipality.]
1-23           [Sec. 240.0025.  REGULATION.]  (a)  The commissioners court
1-24     of a county by order may prohibit or regulate the keeping of a wild
 2-1     animal in the county.
 2-2           (b)  The order does not apply:
 2-3                 (1)  inside the limits of a municipality; or
 2-4                 (2)  to an exhibitor licensed under the Animal Welfare
 2-5     Act (7 U.S.C.  Section 2131 et seq.).
 2-6           [(c)  In this section, "wild animal" means a lion, tiger,
 2-7     ocelot, cougar, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, hyena, bear, lesser
 2-8     panda, binturong, wolf, ape, elephant, and rhinoceros.]
 2-9           SECTION 3.  Subchapter A, Chapter 240, Local Government Code,
2-10     is amended by adding Section 240.0025 to read as follows:
2-11           Sec.  240.0025.  FEES.  (a)  The commissioners court of a
2-12     county may establish a fee for each wild animal regulated under
2-13     this subchapter to recover the costs associated with that
2-14     regulation. The fee may be collected only from the person who keeps
2-15     a wild animal subject to this subchapter.
2-16           (b)  The total fees may not exceed $500 for a person,
2-17     regardless of the number of wild animals the person keeps.
2-18           (c)  The county may use the fees collected under this section
2-19     only for the purpose of administering this subchapter.
2-20           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-21     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-22     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-23     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-24     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-25     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-26     passage, and it is so enacted.