Bill Text: TX SB1592 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to powers and duties of governmental entities during a public health disaster; providing civil penalties.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-11 - Filed [SB1592 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB1592-Introduced.html
  87R871 SCL-D
 
  By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 1592
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to powers and duties of governmental entities during a
  public health disaster; providing civil penalties.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter E, Chapter 418, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 418.1012 and 418.1013 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 418.1012.  DEFINITION. Notwithstanding Section
  418.004, in this subchapter, the term "disaster" does not include
  an epidemic or the spread of a communicable disease.
         Sec. 418.1013.  APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This
  subchapter does not apply to a public health disaster as defined by
  Section 81.003, Health and Safety Code.
         SECTION 2.  Section 81.083(l), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (l)  An order under Subsection (k) must be in writing and be
  delivered personally or by registered or certified mail 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 civil [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.  The heading to Section 81.085, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 81.085.  AREA QUARANTINE; CIVIL [CRIMINAL] PENALTY.
         SECTION 4.  Section 81.085(h), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (h)  A person is liable to this state for a civil penalty of
  not more than $500 [commits an offense] if the person knowingly
  fails or refuses to obey a rule, order, or instruction of the
  department or an order or instruction of a health authority issued
  under a department rule and published during an area quarantine
  under this section.  On request of the department or a health
  authority, the attorney general or the district or county attorney
  for the county in which the violation occurs may:
               (1)  sue to collect the civil penalty; and
               (2)  recover reasonable investigation costs,
  attorney's fees, and witness and deposition fees incurred by the
  attorney general, district or county attorney, department, or
  health authority, as applicable, in the civil action [An offense
  under this subsection is a felony of the third degree].
         SECTION 5.  Sections 81.087, 81.088, and 81.089, Health and
  Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 81.087.  VIOLATION OF CONTROL MEASURE ORDERS; CIVIL
  [CRIMINAL] PENALTY.  (a)  A person is liable to this state for a
  civil penalty of not more than $500 [commits an offense] if the
  person knowingly refuses to perform or allow the performance of
  certain control measures ordered by the department or a health
  authority [or the department] under Sections 81.083-81.086.
         (b)  On request of the department or a health authority, the
  attorney general or the district or county attorney for the county
  in which the violation occurs may:
               (1)  sue to collect the civil penalty; and
               (2)  recover reasonable investigation costs,
  attorney's fees, and witness and deposition fees incurred by the
  attorney general, district or county attorney, department, or
  health authority, as applicable, in the civil action [An offense
  under this section is a Class B misdemeanor].
         Sec. 81.088.  REMOVAL, ALTERATION, OR DESTRUCTION OF
  QUARANTINE DEVICES; CIVIL [CRIMINAL] PENALTY.  (a)  A person is
  liable to this state for a civil penalty of not more than $500 
  [commits an offense] if the person knowingly or intentionally:
               (1)  removes, alters, or attempts to remove or alter an
  object the person knows is a quarantine device, notice, or security
  item in a manner that diminishes the effectiveness of the device,
  notice, or item; or
               (2)  destroys an object the person knows is a
  quarantine device, notice, or security item.
         (b)  On request of the department or a health authority, the
  attorney general or the district or county attorney for the county
  in which the violation occurs may:
               (1)  sue to collect the civil penalty; and
               (2)  recover reasonable investigation costs,
  attorney's fees, and witness and deposition fees incurred by the
  attorney general, district or county attorney, department, or
  health authority, as applicable, in the civil action [An offense
  under this section is a Class B misdemeanor].
         Sec. 81.089.  TRANSPORTATION; CIVIL [CRIMINAL] PENALTY.  (a)  
  A person is liable to this state for a civil penalty of not more than
  $500 [commits an offense] if, before notifying the department or
  health authority at a port of entry or a place of first landing or
  first arrival in this state, the person knowingly or intentionally:
               (1)  transports or causes to be transported into this
  state an object the person knows or suspects may be infected or
  contaminated with a communicable disease that is a threat to the
  public health;
               (2)  transports or causes to be transported into this
  state an individual who the person knows has or is the carrier of a
  communicable disease that is a threat to the public health; or
               (3)  transports or causes to be transported into this
  state a person, animal, or object in a private or common carrier or
  a private conveyance that the person knows is or suspects may be
  infected or contaminated with a communicable disease that is a
  threat to the public health.
         (b)  On request of the department or a health authority, the
  attorney general or the district or county attorney for the county
  in which the violation occurs may:
               (1)  sue to collect the civil penalty; and
               (2)  recover reasonable investigation costs,
  attorney's fees, and witness and deposition fees incurred by the
  attorney general, district or county attorney, department, or
  health authority, as applicable, in the civil action [An offense
  under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, except that if the
  person acts with the intent to harm or defraud another, the offense
  is a felony of the third degree].
         SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a violation of law that occurs on or after the effective date of
  this Act.  A violation of law that occurs before the effective date
  of this Act is governed by the law as it existed on the date the
  violation occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for
  that purpose.  For purposes of this section, a violation of law
  occurred before the effective date of this Act if any element of the
  violation occurred before that date.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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