1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to preventing the seizure of a work of fine art when en
1-3 route to or in an exhibition.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Subchapter E to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER E. WORKS OF FINE ART
1-8 Sec. 61.081. EXEMPTION WHEN EN ROUTE TO OR IN AN EXHIBITION.
1-9 (a) Subject to the limitations of this section, a court may not
1-10 issue and a person may not serve any process of attachment,
1-11 execution, sequestration, replevin, or distress or of any kind of
1-12 seizure, levy, or sale on a work of fine art while it is:
1-13 (1) en route to an exhibition; or
1-14 (2) in the possession of the exhibitor or on display
1-15 as part of the exhibition.
1-16 (b) The restriction on the issuance and service of process
1-17 in Subsection (a) applies only for a period that:
1-18 (1) begins on the date that the work of fine art is en
1-19 route to an exhibition; and
1-20 (2) ends on the earlier of the following dates:
1-21 (A) six months after the date that the work of
1-22 fine art is en route to the exhibition; or
1-23 (B) the date that the exhibition ends.
1-24 (c) Subsection (a) does not apply to a work of fine art if,
2-1 at any other time, issuance and service of process in relation to
2-2 the work has been restricted as provided by Subsection (a).
2-3 (d) Subsection (a) does not apply if theft of the work of
2-4 art from its owner is alleged and found proven by the court.
2-5 (e) A court shall, in issuing service of process described
2-6 by Subsection (a), require that the person serving the process give
2-7 notice to the exhibitor not less than seven days before the date
2-8 the period under Subsection (b) ends of the person's intent to
2-9 serve process.
2-10 (f) In this section, "exhibition" means an exhibition:
2-11 (1) held under the auspices or supervision of:
2-12 (A) an organization exempt from federal income
2-13 tax under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
2-14 amended, by being listed as an exempt organization in Section
2-15 501(c)(3) of the code; or
2-16 (B) a public or private institution of higher
2-17 education;
2-18 (2) held for a cultural, educational, or charitable
2-19 purpose; and
2-20 (3) not held for the profit of the exhibitor.
2-21 Sec. 61.082. HANDLING AND TRANSPORTATION. A court may not
2-22 issue any process of attachment, execution, sequestration,
2-23 replevin, or distress or of any kind of seizure, levy, or sale on a
2-24 work of fine art unless the court requires, as part of the order
2-25 authorizing the process, that the work of fine art is handled and
2-26 transported in a manner that complies with the accepted standards
2-27 of the artistic community for works of fine art, including, if
3-1 appropriate, measures relating to the maintenance of proper
3-2 environmental conditions, proper maintenance, security, and
3-3 insurance coverage.
3-4 SECTION 2. 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,
3-9 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-10 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3081 was passed by the House on April
30, 1999, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 3081 on May 22, 1999, by a non-record
vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3081 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 20, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor