1-1     By:  Rangel (Senate Sponsor - Armbrister)             H.B. No. 1126
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 25, 2001;
 1-3     April 26, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Criminal Justice; May 9, 2001, reported favorably by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 9, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the discarding of burning materials; providing a
 1-9     criminal penalty.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Chapter 28, Penal Code, is amended by adding
1-12     Section 28.09 to read as follows:
1-13           Sec. 28.09.  DISCARDING LIGHTED MATERIALS.  (a)  A person
1-14     commits an offense if the person discards a lighted match, lighted
1-15     cigarette or cigar, or other lighted material onto open-space land,
1-16     onto a private road or the right-of-way of a private road, onto a
1-17     public highway or other public road or the right-of-way of a public
1-18     highway or other public road, or onto a railroad right-of-way.
1-19           (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), an offense under
1-20     Subsection (a) is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed
1-21     $100.
1-22           (c)  If a fire is ignited as the result of the commission of
1-23     an offense under Subsection (a) and the fire continues after
1-24     ignition, an offense under Subsection (a) is a misdemeanor
1-25     punishable by:
1-26                 (1)  a fine not to exceed $500;
1-27                 (2)  confinement in jail for a term not to exceed 30
1-28     days; or
1-29                 (3)  both the fine and confinement.
1-30           (d)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
1-31     Subsection (a) that the person discarded the lighted item or
1-32     material in connection with controlled burning the person was
1-33     conducting in the area into which the lighted item or material was
1-34     discarded.
1-35           (e)  The operator of a public conveyance in which smoking
1-36     tobacco is allowed shall post a copy of this section in a
1-37     conspicuous place within the portions of the public conveyance in
1-38     which smoking is allowed.
1-39           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-40                                  * * * * *