By: Klick (Senate Sponsor - Kolkhorst) H.B. No. 3366
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2021;
  May 12, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on Health &
  Human Services; May 21, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable
  Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0;
  May 21, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3366 By:  Blanco
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to authorizing the electronic transmission of certain
  communications related to the prevention of communicable diseases.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 81, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 81.016 to read as follows:
         Sec. 81.016.  E-MAIL DELIVERY. (a)  Except as provided by
  Subsection (b), any documents required to be delivered in person or
  sent by registered or certified mail under this chapter may be sent
  by e-mail with a read receipt requested.
         (b)  To electronically issue a control measure order under
  this chapter, the department or a health authority, as applicable,
  must obtain the consent of the individual to whom the order is
  issued.
         SECTION 2.  Sections 81.083(c) and (l), Health and Safety
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (c)  An order under this section must be in writing and be
  delivered personally, [or] by registered or certified mail, or by
  e-mail with a read receipt requested to the individual or to the
  individual's parent, legal guardian, or managing conservator if the
  individual is a minor.
         (l)  An order under Subsection (k) must be in writing and be
  delivered personally, [or] by registered or certified mail, or by
  e-mail with a read receipt requested to each member of the group,
  or the member's parent, legal guardian, or managing conservator if
  the member is a minor.  If the name, address, and county of
  residence of any member of the group is unknown at the time the
  order is issued, the department or health authority must publish
  notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county that
  includes the area of the suspected exposure and any other county in
  which the department or health authority suspects a member of the
  group resides.  The notice must contain the following information:
               (1)  that the department or health authority has
  reasonable cause to believe that a group of individuals is ill with,
  has been exposed to, or is the carrier of a communicable disease;
               (2)  the suspected time and place of exposure to the
  disease;
               (3)  a copy of any orders under Subsection (k);
               (4)  instructions to an individual to provide the
  individual's name, address, and county of residence to the
  department or health authority if the individual knows or
  reasonably suspects that the individual was at the place of the
  suspected exposure at the time of the suspected exposure;
               (5)  that the department or health authority may
  request that an application for court orders under Subchapter G be
  filed for the group, if applicable; and
               (6)  that a criminal penalty applies to an individual
  who:
                     (A)  is a member of the group; and
                     (B)  knowingly refuses to perform or allow the
  performance of the control measures in the order.
         SECTION 3.  Section 81.084(b), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  The department or health authority shall send notice of
  its action by registered or certified mail, [or] by personal
  delivery, or by e-mail with a read receipt requested to the person
  who owns or controls the property. If the property is land or a
  structure or an animal or other property on the land, the department
  or health authority shall also post the notice on the land and at a
  place convenient to the public in the county courthouse. If the
  property is infected or contaminated as a result of a public health
  disaster, the department or health authority is not required to
  provide notice under this subsection.
         SECTION 4.  Section 81.155(b), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  A copy of the application and the written notice shall
  be delivered in person, [or] sent by certified mail, or sent by
  e-mail with a read receipt requested to:
               (1)  the person's parent, if the person is a minor;
               (2)  the person's appointed guardian, if the person is
  the subject of a guardianship; or
               (3)  each managing and possessory conservator, that has
  been appointed for the person.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter G, Chapter 81, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 81.213 to read as follows:
         Sec. 81.213.  ELECTRONIC OR FAXED SIGNATURE. For the
  purposes of this subchapter, an electronic signature, as defined by
  Section 166.002, or a faxed signature shall have the same force and
  effect as the use of a manual signature. 
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
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