1-1     By:  Wentworth                                        S.B. No. 1194
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 7, 2001; March 8, 2001, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
 1-4     March 26, 2001, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; March 26, 2001,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1194                 By:  Bernsen
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the protection of bats; providing a penalty.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 63, Parks and Wildlife
1-13     Code, is amended by adding Section 63.101 to read as follows:
1-14           Sec. 63.101.  PROTECTION OF BATS.  (a)  Except as provided by
1-15     Subsections (b) and (c), no person may:
1-16                 (1)  hunt a bat; or
1-17                 (2)  sell, offer for sale, purchase, offer to purchase,
1-18     or possess after purchase a bat or any part of a bat, dead or
1-19     alive.
1-20           (b)  A bat may be removed or hunted if the bat is inside a
1-21     building occupied by people.
1-22           (c)  This section does not apply to:
1-23                 (1)  an animal control officer, a peace officer, or a
1-24     health official who captures a bat that the officer or official
1-25     considers injured or diseased; or
1-26                 (2)  a person who transports a bat for the purpose of
1-27     laboratory testing if the bat has exposed or potentially exposed
1-28     humans or domestic animals to rabies.
1-29           SECTION 2.  Subsection (c), Section 63.104, Parks and
1-30     Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-31           (c)  A person who violates Section 63.002 or 63.101 of this
1-32     code commits an offense that is a Class C Parks and Wildlife Code
1-33     misdemeanor.
1-34           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
1-35     applies only to an act described by Section 63.101, Parks and
1-36     Wildlife Code, as added by this Act, committed on or after that
1-37     date.
1-38                                  * * * * *