Bill Text: TX SB1850 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to appeals regarding cruelly treated animals.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-24 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB1850 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-SB1850-Introduced.html
82R9986 JSC-F | ||
By: Van de Putte | S.B. No. 1850 |
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relating to appeals regarding cruelly treated animals. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 821.021, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 821.021. DEFINITIONS [ |
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subchapter: | ||
(1) "Cruelly [ |
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seriously overworked, unreasonably abandoned, unreasonably | ||
deprived of necessary food, care, or shelter, cruelly confined, or | ||
caused to fight with another animal. | ||
(2) "Magistrate" means any officer as defined in | ||
Article 2.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, except that the term does | ||
not include justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of | ||
criminal appeals or courts of appeals, judges or associate judges | ||
of statutory probate courts, or judges or associate judges of | ||
district courts that give preference to family law matters or | ||
family district courts under Subchapter D, Chapter 24, Government | ||
Code. | ||
(3) "Seize in place" means to allow an animal subject | ||
to a warrant for seizure under this subchapter to remain with the | ||
owner in lieu of impoundment, but to prohibit the owner from moving | ||
or disposing of the animal. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 821.022, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection | ||
(d) to read as follows: | ||
(a) If a peace officer or an officer who has responsibility | ||
for animal control in a county or municipality has reason to believe | ||
that an animal has been or is being cruelly treated, the officer may | ||
apply to a justice court or magistrate in the county or to a | ||
municipal court in the municipality in which the animal is located | ||
for a warrant to seize the animal or seize the animal in place. | ||
(c) The officer executing the warrant shall cause the animal | ||
to be impounded or seized in place and shall give written notice to | ||
the owner of the animal of the time and place of the hearing. | ||
(d) An owner is entitled, on request, to a trial by jury in a | ||
justice or municipal court in lieu of a hearing. | ||
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 821.023, Health and | ||
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 821.023. HEARING OR TRIAL; ORDER OF DISPOSITION OR | ||
RETURN OF ANIMAL. | ||
SECTION 4. Sections 821.023(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and | ||
(g), Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) A finding in a court of competent jurisdiction that the | ||
owner of an animal is guilty of an offense under Section 42.09 or | ||
42.092, Penal Code, involving the animal is prima facie evidence at | ||
a hearing or trial authorized by Section 821.022 that the animal has | ||
been cruelly treated. | ||
(b) A statement of an owner made at a hearing or trial | ||
provided for under this subchapter is not admissible in a trial of | ||
the owner for an offense under Section 42.09 or 42.092, Penal Code. | ||
(c) Each interested party is entitled to an opportunity to | ||
present evidence at the hearing or trial. | ||
(d) If the trier of fact [ |
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owner has cruelly treated the animal, the owner shall be divested of | ||
ownership of the animal, and the court shall: | ||
(1) order a public sale of the animal by auction; | ||
(2) order the animal given to a nonprofit animal | ||
shelter, pound, or society for the protection of animals; or | ||
(3) order the animal humanely destroyed if the court | ||
decides that the best interests of the animal or that the public | ||
health and safety would be served by doing so. | ||
(e) If the trier of fact [ |
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animal's owner has cruelly treated the animal the court shall order | ||
the owner to pay all court costs, including costs of: | ||
(1) investigation; | ||
(2) expert witnesses; | ||
(3) housing and caring for the animal during its | ||
impoundment; | ||
(4) conducting any public sale ordered by the court; | ||
and | ||
(5) humanely destroying the animal if destruction is | ||
ordered by the court. | ||
(g) The court shall order the animal returned to the owner | ||
if the trier of fact [ |
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has cruelly treated the animal. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 821.025, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and | ||
(d) to read as follows: | ||
(a) An owner divested of ownership of an animal under | ||
Section 821.023 may appeal the order to a county court or county | ||
court at law in the county in which the justice or municipal court | ||
is located. As a condition of perfecting an appeal, not later than | ||
the 10th calendar day after the date the order is issued, the owner | ||
must file a notice of appeal and an appeal bond in an amount | ||
determined by the court from which the appeal is taken to be the | ||
approximate actual cost anticipated to be [ |
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impounded animal during the appeal process. Not later than the | ||
10th [ |
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appeal bond is filed, [ |
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court at law, as appropriate, [ |
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shall consider the matter de novo [ |
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decision of the county court or county court at law under this | ||
section is final and may not be further appealed. | ||
(c) Notwithstanding Section 30.00014, Government Code, or | ||
any other law, a person filing an appeal from a municipal court | ||
under Subsection (a) is not required to file a motion for a new | ||
trial to perfect an appeal. | ||
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, a county court or a | ||
county court at law has jurisdiction to hear an appeal filed under | ||
this section. | ||
SECTION 6. Section 821.0211, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
repealed. | ||
SECTION 7. (a) The change in law made by this Act to Section | ||
821.022, Health and Safety Code, applies only to a warrant for | ||
seizure of an animal issued on or after the effective date of this | ||
Act. A warrant for seizure of an animal issued before the effective | ||
date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the warrant was | ||
issued, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 821.025, | ||
Health and Safety Code, applies only to a request for an appeal made | ||
on or after the effective date of this Act. A request for an appeal | ||
made before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in | ||
effect when the appeal was made, and the former law is continued in | ||
effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |