By Kuempel                                            H.B. No. 2608
         77R8921 YDB-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the protection of bats; providing a penalty.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 63, Parks and Wildlife Code,
 1-5     is amended by adding Section 63.101 to read as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 63.101.  PROTECTION OF BATS. (a)  Except as provided by
 1-7     Subsections (b) and (c), no person may:
 1-8                 (1)  hunt a bat; or
 1-9                 (2)  sell, offer for sale, purchase, offer to purchase,
1-10     or possess after purchase a bat or any part of a bat, dead or
1-11     alive.
1-12           (b)  A bat may be removed or hunted if the bat is inside a
1-13     building occupied by people.
1-14           (c)  This section does not apply to:
1-15                 (1)  an animal control officer, a peace officer, or a
1-16     health official who captures a bat that the officer or official
1-17     considers injured or diseased; or
1-18                 (2)  a person who transports a bat to the nearest Texas
1-19     Department of Health facility or medical facility if the bat poses
1-20     an immediate threat to human health or safety.
1-21           SECTION 2. Section 63.104(c), Parks and Wildlife Code, is
1-22     amended to read as follows:
1-23           (c)  A person who violates Section 63.002 or 63.101 of this
1-24     code commits an offense that is a Class C Parks and Wildlife Code
 2-1     misdemeanor.
 2-2           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
 2-3     applies only to an act described by Section 63.101, Parks and
 2-4     Wildlife Code, as added by this Act, committed on or after that
 2-5     date.