By: Armbrister, Madla S.B. No. 1504
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a deer breeder's permit; providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter L, Chapter 43, Parks
and Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER L. DEER [SCIENTIFIC] BREEDER'S PERMIT
SECTION 2. Subchapter L, Chapter 43, Parks and Wildlife
Code, is amended by adding Section 43.3511 to read as follows:
Sec. 43.3511. NATURE OF DEER. Notwithstanding any other
law, a deer held in captivity by a deer breeder under the authority
of this subchapter is the personal property of that deer breeder.
SECTION 3. Sections 43.351, 43.352, 43.356, 43.357, and
43.359 through 43.367, Parks and Wildlife Code, are amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 43.351. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Deer [Scientific] breeder" means a person holding
a valid deer [scientific] breeder's permit.
(2) "Captivity" means the keeping of a deer [an
animal] in an enclosure suitable for and capable of retaining the
deer [animal] it is designed to retain at all times under reasonable
and ordinary circumstances and to prevent entry by another deer
[animal]. The term includes the temporary keeping of a deer in a
vehicle or trailer.
(3) "Deer" means a white-tailed deer or mule deer.
(4) "Durable identification tag" means a tag not
easily dislodged or removed made of a material that is not likely to
disintegrate or decompose. The term includes newly developed
technologies, including radio frequency identification tags,
implantable transponders, and microchips.
(5) "Immediate locality" means land that is contiguous
and that is owned by the same person. For purposes of this
subdivision, land divided or separated only by a public road or a
public waterway is contiguous.
(6) "Liberation" means the intentional release of a
live deer from a permitted facility, vehicle, or trailer.
Sec. 43.352. PERMIT AUTHORIZED. The department shall issue
a permit to a qualified person to possess live [white-tailed] deer
in captivity [or mule deer for propagation, management, and
scientific purposes].
Sec. 43.356. SERIAL NUMBER. (a) The department shall
issue a serial number to a permittee when the department issues the
permittee a deer breeder's permit [the applicant at the time of the
first issuance of a scientific breeder's permit to the applicant].
The same serial number shall be assigned to the permittee whenever
the department issues the permittee [he holds] a deer [scientific]
breeder's permit.
(b) The deer [scientific] breeder shall implant in or place
on each of the breeder's deer a durable identification [suitable
permanent] tag [bearing the scientific breeder's serial number on
the ear of each white-tailed deer or mule deer possessed by the
scientific breeder and shall place on the white-tailed deer or mule
deer any other identification marking prescribed by the
commission].
Sec. 43.357. PERMIT PRIVILEGES; REGULATIONS. (a) The
holder of a valid deer [scientific] breeder's permit may:
(1) engage in the business of breeding [white-tailed]
deer in the immediate locality for which the permit [license] was
issued; and
(2) sell, transfer to another person, or hold in
captivity live [white-tailed] deer [or mule deer] for the purpose
of propagation, liberation, or sale.
(a-1) A deer breeder, deer breeder's authorized agent, or an
assistant who is not a permittee under this subchapter but is acting
under the direction of a deer breeder or a deer breeder's authorized
agent may capture a deer held in a permitted facility for:
(1) removal from an enclosure;
(2) veterinary treatment;
(3) tagging;
(4) euthanasia for the purpose of:
(A) humane dispatch of the deer; or
(B) the conduct of a test for a reportable
disease as required by law; or
(5) any other purpose required or allowed by law.
(b) The commission may make regulations governing:
(1) the possession of [white-tailed] deer held under
the authority of this subchapter [and mule deer for scientific,
management, and propagation purposes]; [and]
(2) the recapture of lawfully possessed
[white-tailed] deer [or mule deer] that have escaped from the [a]
facility of a deer [scientific] breeder;
(3) the unique identification of each deer held,
possessed, or liberated under a deer breeder's permit;
(4) permit applications and fees;
(5) reporting requirements;
(6) procedures and requirements for the purchase,
transfer, sale, or shipment of deer;
(7) the endorsement of a breeder facility by a
certified wildlife biologist;
(8) the number of deer that a deer breeder may possess;
and
(9) the dates for which a deer breeder permit is valid.
Sec. 43.359. REPORTS; AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION. (a) A
deer [scientific] breeder shall maintain an accurate and legible
record of all [white-tailed] deer [and mule deer] acquired,
purchased, propagated, sold, transferred, liberated, or disposed
of and any other information required by the department that
reasonably relates to the regulation of deer [scientific] breeders.
[The record shall be maintained on a form provided by the
department.]
(b) A deer [scientific] breeder shall report the
information maintained under Subsection (a) to the department as
the [in the time and manner required by] commission by rule may
require [proclamation].
(c) On the request of a game warden acting within the scope
of the game warden's official duties, a deer breeder shall make
available to the game warden any information the deer breeder is
required to maintain under this subchapter or a rule adopted by the
commission.
Sec. 43.360. ENCLOSURE SIZE. A single enclosure for
[white-tailed deer or mule] deer may not contain more than 100 [320]
acres.
Sec. 43.361. SHIPMENT OF [WHITE-TAILED] DEER. [(a) A
common carrier may not accept a live white-tailed deer or mule deer
unless the shipment is made by a holder of a scientific breeder's
permit or by a person holding a permit under Subchapter C of Chapter
43 of this code.
[(b)] No person, except a deer [scientific] breeder, the
deer breeder's [his] authorized agent, a deer breeder assisting
another deer breeder, or a person holding a permit under Subchapter
C [of Chapter 43 of this code], may transport or ship a live
[white-tailed] deer [or mule deer] unless the person [he] obtains a
transport permit [for shipment or transportation] from the
department.
Sec. 43.362. TRANSFER, PURCHASE, OR [AND] SALE OF LIVE
[WHITE-TAILED] DEER [AND MULE DEER]. (a) Only [white-tailed] deer
[and mule deer] that are in a healthy condition may be sold,
bartered, transferred or exchanged, or offered for sale, barter, or
exchange, by a deer [scientific] breeder.
(b) Except as provided by Subchapter C or by a rule adopted
by the commission under this subchapter, [Chapter 43,] no person
may purchase, obtain, sell, transfer, or accept in this state a live
[white-tailed] deer [or mule deer] unless the person obtains a
purchase permit [for purchasing] from the department and[:
[(1)] the [white-tailed] deer [or mule deer] is
properly marked as required by this subchapter or a rule adopted by
the commission under this subchapter [Section 43.356(b) of this
code; or
[(2) the white-tailed deer or mule deer is delivered
by a common carrier from outside this state].
[(c) No person may release into the wild a white-tailed deer
or mule deer unless all visible markings required by Section
43.356(b) have been removed.]
Sec. 43.363. TRANSFER [SALE] DURING OPEN SEASON.
(a) During an open hunting season for [taking the white-tailed]
deer or [mule deer or] during the 10-day [a] period immediately
preceding [of 10 days before] an open hunting season, [no
scientific breeder may release into the wild or sell or ship to a
person other than a person holding a scientific breeder's permit, a
white-tailed deer or mule deer and] no person in this state [, other
than a scientific breeder,] may liberate [purchase from] a deer or
sell, transfer, ship, or transport [scientific breeder in this
state] a [white-tailed] deer for the purpose of liberation [or mule
deer] unless the person [scientific breeder]:
(1) has removed [immediately above the pedicel] the
antlers of the [a male white-tailed] deer between the G-3 tine, as
defined by the Boone and Crockett Club, and the pedicel on each
antler main beam [or mule deer to be sold or shipped]; and
(2) has followed any procedure prescribed by rule of
the commission for the lawful conduct of activities under this
subchapter [given written notice of the sale to the department].
(b) The commission shall adopt rules [make regulations]
governing a transfer permit [notice and approval of the sale or
shipment of white-tailed deer and mule deer] under this section.
Sec. 43.364. USE OF [PURCHASED WHITE-TAILED] DEER [AND MULE
DEER]. Deer [White-tailed deer and mule deer] may be purchased,
sold, transferred, or received in this state only for the purpose of
liberation [for stocking purposes] or [holding for] propagation
[purposes]. All [white-tailed] deer [or mule deer] and increase
from [the white-tailed] deer [or mule deer] are under the full force
of the laws of this state pertaining to [white-tailed] deer [and
mule deer], and those deer may be held in captivity for propagation
in this state only after a deer [scientific] breeder's permit is
issued by the department under this subchapter.
Sec. 43.365. PROHIBITED ACTS. (a) It is an offense if a
deer [scientific] breeder or another person:
(1) takes, traps, or captures or attempts to take,
trap, or capture [white-tailed] deer [or mule deer] from the wild;
(2) allows the hunting or killing of a [white-tailed]
deer [or mule deer] held in captivity under the provisions of this
subchapter, except as provided by this subchapter or a rule adopted
by the commission under this subchapter; or
(3) knowingly sells, arranges the sale of, purchases,
transfers, receives, or attempts to sell, arrange the sale of,
purchase, transfer, or receive a live deer in violation of this
subchapter or a rule adopted by the commission under this
subchapter.
(b) It is an offense if a deer breeder fails to furnish to a
game warden commissioned by the department records required to be
maintained under Section 43.359(a).
Sec. 43.366. APPLICATION OF GENERAL LAWS. In order that
native species may be preserved, [white-tailed] deer [and mule
deer] held under a deer [scientific] breeder's permit are subject
to all laws and regulations of this state pertaining to
[white-tailed deer or mule] deer except as specifically provided in
this subchapter. However, it is specifically provided that this
subchapter may not be construed to restrict or prohibit the use of
high fences.
Sec. 43.367. PENALTY. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), a [A] person who violates a provision of this
subchapter[, the conditions of a permit,] or a regulation of the
commission issued under this subchapter or who fails to file a full
and complete report as required by Section 43.359 [of this code]
commits an offense that is a Class C Parks and Wildlife Code
misdemeanor.
(b) A person who violates Section 43.365(a)(2) commits an
offense that is a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
SECTION 4. Sections 43.354 and 43.355, Parks and Wildlife
Code, are repealed.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.