| TO: | Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB411 by Shapleigh (Relating to dog attacks on persons; creating an offense.), As Introduced |
The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code by creating as a state jail felony if a person is the owner of a dog that makes an unprovoked attack on another person at a location other than the owner's property or of a dangerous dog that makes an unprovoked attack outside a secure enclosure and the attack causes serious bodily injury. If the attack were to cause death, the offense would be a third degree felony.
In addition to criminal prosecution, a person who commits an offense would be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000. An attorney for the municipality or the county in which the offense occurs would be authorized to file suit to collect the penalty; the municipality or county would retain the penalties collected.
| Source Agencies: | 696 Department of Criminal Justice
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, ES, DB, GG
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