By:  Kuempel                                                      H.B. No. 2555



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to dispatching game animals and game birds.                          
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 61, Subchapter C, Parks and Wildlife 
Code, is amended by adding Section 61.060 to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER C. REGULATORY DUTIES
	Sec. 61.060. Humane Dispatch of Game Animals and Game Birds             
	Sec. 61.060  (a)  In this section, "dispatch" means to kill by 
a humane method.
	(b)  It is a defense to prosecution for a violation of 
regulations adopted by proclamation of the Commission issued 
pursuant to Chapter 61, Parks and Wildlife Code, that the 
individual dispatched a game animal or game bird that:
		(1)  is mortally wounded, not through an act of 
hunting; or          
		(2)  behaves in a manner that:                                         
			(A)  is inconsistent with the manner in which game 
animals or game birds that are not diseased typically behave; and
			(B)  leads a reasonable person to believe that the 
game animal or game bird poses a substantial risk of serious harm to 
a person or wildlife.
	(c)  The commission may adopt rules, including disposition 
of game animals and game birds that have been humanely dispatched, 
to implement this section.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.