BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 234 |
By: Farrar |
Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Concerned parties note that procedures regarding the seizure and disposition of cruelly treated animals require an animal's owner to pay court costs if the court finds that the owner cruelly treated the animal, but the parties express concern that a court is not able to award a county's or municipality's attorney's fees in such a case. These parties contend that allowing the court to award these fees would provide a more cost-effective method for counties and municipalities to seize cruelly treated animals and would enable counties and municipalities to provide enforcement of more cases. To address these issues, C.S.H.B. 234 seeks to grant certain courts the discretion to award those fees.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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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.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 234 amends the Health and Safety Code to authorize a court of competent jurisdiction on finding that an animal's owner has cruelly treated the animal to order the owner to pay the county's or municipality's reasonable attorney's fees. The bill authorizes a county court or county court at law that finds on appeal that an animal's owner has cruelly treated the animal to order the owner to pay the county's or municipality's reasonable attorney's fees and court costs, including the costs of investigation and expert witnesses.
C.S.H.B. 234 amends the Government Code to make conforming changes.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 234 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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