BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1819

By: Kacal

Agriculture & Livestock

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under current law, a person whose fence is insufficient to keep out a trespassing head of cattle or a horse, mule, jack, or jennet is liable for damages if the person maims, wounds, or kills such an animal. Interested parties assert that sheep and goats have been injured or killed by a neighboring landowner and that such livestock should also be provided the same protection.  H.B. 1819 seeks to address this issue by establishing provisions relating to liability for injuring a trespassing sheep or goat.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 1819 amends the Agriculture Code to make a person whose fence is insufficient under statutory provisions governing a local option to prevent certain animals from running at large and who maims, wounds, or kills a trespassing sheep or goat, or procures the maiming, wounding, or killing of such an animal, by any means, including a gun or a dog, liable to the owner of the animal for damages. The bill specifies that such liability does not authorize a person to maim, wound, or kill any sheep or goat of another person.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2013.