Title TN, Transportation Code

Sec. 69.012. PROHIBITED INTEREST. A person may not be a member of the board if the person has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a pilot boat or branch pilot in the business of the board's trust. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 745, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2003.

Sec. 69.013. OATH. Before beginning service as a board member, each board member must take and sign before a person authorized to administer oaths an oath to faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 745, Sec. 1, eff. June 2…

Sec. 69.014. TERMS OF OFFICE. (a) Board members serve staggered two-year terms of office. (b) A member holds office until the member's successor is appointed and qualified. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 745, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2003.

Sec. 69.015. JURISDICTION OF BOARD. The board has exclusive jurisdiction over the pilot services provided in Jefferson or Orange County, including intermediate stops and landing places for vessels on navigable streams wholly or partially located in the board's jurisdiction. Added…

Sec. 69.016. ADMINISTRATION; RULES. (a) The board shall administer this chapter and may perform any act or function necessary to carry out its powers and duties under this chapter. (b) The board may adopt rules to carry out this chapter. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 745, Se…

Sec. 69.017. DUTIES. (a) The board shall: (1) establish the number of pilots necessary to provide adequate pilot services for each Jefferson or Orange County port; (2) establish pilotage rates; (3) hear and determine complaints relating to the conduct of pilots; (4) make recommen…

Sec. 69.018. UNFAIR DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED. (a) In all its duties, including rulemaking, the board may not sanction discriminatory practices or discriminate against a pilot or pilot applicant because of race, religion, sex, ethnic origin, or national origin. (b) A person seeki…

Sec. 69.019. OPEN MEETINGS LAW. Chapter 551, Government Code, applies to actions and proceedings under this chapter. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 745, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2003.

Sec. 69.020. RULE OR RATE CHANGE. (a) The board shall give at least 10 days' notice as provided by this section before the board adopts a rule or changes a pilotage rate. (b) The board shall send the notice and a copy of the proposed rule or change by registered mail to the last …

Sec. 69.021. CONTESTED CASE NOTICE. The board shall give notice in each contested case to the persons and in the manner provided by Section 69.020(b) that includes the same information as the notice given to the parties in each contested case. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 7…

Sec. 69.022. JUDICIAL REVIEW. Proceedings for judicial review of a board decision shall be brought in a district court in Jefferson County. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 745, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2003.

Sec. 69.023. BUDGET; ANNUAL REPORT; AUDITS. (a) The board shall adopt a budget not later than the 45th day before the start of a fiscal year. The budget may be adopted only after a public meeting has been held to explain the budget. (b) Accounts of the board are subject to audit …

Sec. 69.024. DEPOSITORY BANK; EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS. The board shall deposit all money received by the board under this chapter, including assessments and grants from governmental agencies, in a bank located in Jefferson or Orange County and selected by the board. Added by Acts 20…

Sec. 69.031. LICENSES OR CERTIFICATE REQUIRED. A person may not provide pilot services unless the person has a license or certificate issued under this chapter for the Jefferson and Orange County ports in which the pilot services are to be provided. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg.,…

Sec. 69.032. EXEMPTIONS. The requirement to use a pilot does not apply to: (1) a vessel sailing under enrollment, or licensed or engaged in the coasting trade between Texas ports or between any Texas port and any other port of the United States; or (2) a vessel exempt under feder…

Sec. 69.033. QUALIFICATIONS FOR LICENSE. To be eligible for a license as a branch pilot for the ports within the jurisdiction of the board, a person must: (1) be at least 25 years of age and younger than 68 years of age unless exempted under the provisions of Section 69.040(b); (…

Sec. 69.034. QUALIFICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATE. To be eligible for a certificate as a deputy branch pilot, a person must: (1) be at least 25 years of age; (2) be a United States citizen; (3) hold a license under federal law to act as a pilot on vessels that navigate water on which t…

Sec. 69.035. APPLICATION FOR LICENSE OR CERTIFICATE. To apply for a branch pilot's license or a deputy branch pilot's certificate, a person must give the board a written application in the form and manner required by board rule. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 745, Sec. 1, eff…

Sec. 69.036. CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATION. (a) The board shall carefully consider each application submitted under Section 69.035 and shall conduct any investigation it considers necessary to determine whether an applicant is qualified for a license or certificate. (b) As part of…

Sec. 69.037. BRANCH PILOT APPOINTMENT BY GOVERNOR. (a) On filing of the bond and oath required by Section 69.039, the board shall certify to the governor that a person licensed as a branch pilot has qualified. (b) On receipt of the board's certification, the governor shall issue …

Sec. 69.038. DEPUTY BRANCH PILOT APPOINTMENT BY BRANCH PILOT. (a) Each branch pilot, subject to examination and approval of the board, may appoint two deputy branch pilots. (b) A branch pilot may appoint an additional deputy branch pilot if the board considers the appointment adv…

Sec. 69.039. OATH AND BOND. (a) A person appointed as a pilot must take the official oath before entering service as a pilot. The oath shall be endorsed on the bond required by Subsection (b). (b) Each pilot must execute a $25,000 bond payable to the governor and conditioned on c…

Sec. 69.040. TERMS OF LICENSES AND CERTIFICATES. (a) A branch pilot's license expires on the earlier of: (1) the fourth anniversary of the date it is issued or renewed; or (2) the license holder's 68th birthday. (b) Subsection (a)(2) does not apply to a person who is a branch pil…

Sec. 69.041. BRANCH PILOT'S LICENSE RENEWAL. (a) The governor shall renew a branch pilot's expiring license if the board recommends renewal. (b) If a pilot applies in writing and qualifies, the board shall recommend renewal unless the board determines there is probable cause not …

Sec. 69.042. DEPUTY BRANCH PILOT. A person who has been issued a deputy branch pilot's certificate may not be issued a deputy branch pilot's certificate before the fifth anniversary of the date the person was previously issued a deputy branch pilot's certificate. Added by Acts 20…

Sec. 69.043. SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF BRANCH PILOT'S LICENSE. (a) On complaint or on its own motion, and after notice and hearing, the board may suspend a branch pilot's license for not more than six months or recommend that the governor revoke a branch pilot's license if the …

Sec. 69.044. SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF DEPUTY BRANCH PILOT'S CERTIFICATE. A deputy branch pilot's certificate may be suspended or revoked by the board in the same manner and for the same reasons as provided for the suspension or revocation of a branch pilot's license by Section…

Sec. 69.045. LIABILITY TO PILOT. (a) A person who is not a pilot and who, in violation of this chapter, pilots a vessel and the consignee of the vessel are liable to a pilot, on written demand, for the amount of the applicable pilotage rate. (b) In an action to recover compensati…

Sec. 69.061. PILOTAGE RATE CHANGE. The board may not change pilotage rates before the first anniversary of the preceding rate change. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 745, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2003.

Sec. 69.062. PILOTAGE RATE CHANGE APPLICATION. (a) An application for a change in a pilotage rate may be filed with each commissioner of the board by: (1) a pilot; (2) an association of pilots; (3) a consignee liable under Section 69.070 to pay pilotage rates; (4) an association …

Sec. 69.063. PILOT FINANCIAL REPORT. (a) Not later than the 10th day before the date set for a pilotage rate hearing, the pilots who are licensed or certified to serve the port for which the rates are being considered shall submit in writing to the board and to any party designat…

Sec. 69.064. FACTORS FOR BOARD CONSIDERATION. In acting on a pilotage rate change application, the board shall consider: (1) characteristics of vessels to be piloted; (2) the public interest in maintaining safe, efficient, and reliable pilot services; (3) the average number of ho…

Sec. 69.065. RATE DECISION. Not later than the 10th day after the date of the completion of a hearing on an application for a change in pilotage rates, the board shall issue a written decision that: (1) grants or denies the application wholly or partly; (2) states the reasons for…

Sec. 69.066. COSTS. The board, in a final order under this subchapter, may charge all or part of the costs of processing an application to the parties in the proceedings. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 745, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2003.

Sec. 69.067. APPEAL OF BOARD DECISION. Any party aggrieved by a board decision on pilotage rates, after exhausting all administrative remedies, may appeal the order to a court. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 745, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2003.

Sec. 69.068. EMERGENCY PILOTAGE RATES. (a) The board may establish emergency pilotage rates for the period of an emergency, not to exceed 30 days, if the board finds that: (1) a natural or man-made disaster has created a substantial hazard to piloting vessels into and out of a po…

Sec. 69.069. PILOT SERVICES REQUIRED. The consignee of a vessel under the consignee's control shall obtain pilot services for the vessel and shall pay the pilot who pilots the vessel into and out of the port area compensation according to the pilotage rates filed by the board. Ad…

Sec. 69.070. PILOTAGE RATE LIABILITY. (a) A consignee who declines the services of a pilot offered outside the bar and enters the port without the aid of a pilot is liable for the payment of pilotage to the first pilot whose services were declined. (b) A consignee is liable for t…

Sec. 69.071. RECOVERY OF COMPENSATION. A pilot who offers pilot services to a vessel required under this chapter to obtain pilot services and whose services are refused is entitled to recover from the consignee the pilotage rate for the services. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch…

Sec. 69.081. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to: (1) in the public interest, stimulate and preserve maritime commerce on the pilotage grounds of this state by limiting and regulating the liability of pilots; and (2) maintain pilotage fees at reasonable levels. Added by…

Sec. 69.082. PILOT LIABILITY. A pilot is not liable directly or as a member of an organization of pilots for a claim that: (1) arises from an act or omission of another pilot or organization of pilots; and (2) relates directly or indirectly to pilot services. Added by Acts 2003, …

Sec. 69.083. PILOT LIABILITY LIMITED. (a) A pilot providing pilot services is not liable for more than $1,000 for damage or loss caused by the pilot's error, omission, fault, or neglect in the performance of the pilot services, except as provided by Subsection (b). (b) Subsection…