Title AG, Agriculture Code

Sec. 167.004. CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS OR PREMISES AS INFESTED, EXPOSED, OR FREE FROM EXPOSURE. (a) If a tick is found on an animal, the following are classified as tick infested: (1) each animal that is in the same herd or is then or thereafter on the same range or in the same …

Sec. 167.005. ERADICATION, FREE, AND INACTIVE QUARANTINE AREAS. (a) The tick eradication area is composed of counties and parts of counties designated for tick eradication under Section 167.006 of this code. (b) The free area and the inactive quarantine area are composed of count…

Sec. 167.006. DESIGNATION OF TICK ERADICATION AREA. (a) The commission may designate for tick eradication any county or part of a county that the commission determines may contain ticks. (b) The commission shall give notice that a county or part of a county is designated for tick…

Sec. 167.007. TICK ERADICATION IN FREE AREA. (a) The commission may conduct tick eradication in the free area and may establish quarantines and require the treatment of animals in the free area as provided by this chapter. The commission shall designate in writing the land or pre…

Sec. 167.008. INSPECTIONS. The commission may order the owner, part owner, or caretaker of animals to gather the animals for inspection at a time and place prescribed in the order of the commission. The commission shall serve written notice of the order not later than the 12th da…

Sec. 167.021. GENERAL QUARANTINE POWER. (a) The commission may establish quarantines on land, premises, and animals as necessary for tick eradication. (b) The commission in writing may release a quarantine established under this chapter if the commission considers it necessary or…

Sec. 167.022. QUARANTINE OF TICK ERADICATION AREA. (a) The order designating a county or part of a county for tick eradication shall contain a provision quarantining that county or part of a county. (b) A quarantine under this section has the effect of quarantining all land, prem…

Sec. 167.023. QUARANTINE OF FREE AREA. (a) The commission by written order may establish a quarantine in the free area if necessary for the purpose of regulating the handling of animals and eradicating ticks or exposure to ticks in the free area or for the purpose of preventing t…

Sec. 167.024. MOVEMENT IN OR FROM QUARANTINED AREA. (a) Unless a person first obtains a permit or a certificate from an authorized inspector, the person may not move animals in a quarantined area: (1) from land owned, leased, or occupied by one person into or through any other la…

Sec. 167.025. MOVEMENT IN OR FROM INACTIVE QUARANTINED AREA. A person may not move animals or permit animals to be moved from or within the inactive quarantined area except in accordance with the rules of the commission. Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 1440, ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. …

Sec. 167.026. MOVEMENT INTO THIS STATE FROM QUARANTINED AREA. (a) A person may not move animals, or permit animals of which the person is the owner, part owner, or caretaker to be moved, into this state from an area in another state, territory, or country that is under state or f…

Sec. 167.027. PERMIT OR CERTIFICATE TO ACCOMPANY MOVEMENT. (a) A certificate or permit required for movement of animals within or into this state must be in the possession of the person in charge of the movement or the conveyance from the point of origin to the point of destinati…

Sec. 167.028. STATEMENT OF POSSESSION AND DESTINATION. On request of an inspector, the owner, part owner, or caretaker, or a person accompanying and connected with a shipment, of animals that are being moved in this state or have been moved in this state within 60 days preceding …

Sec. 167.029. CONDITIONS, MANNER, AND METHOD OF MOVING AND HANDLING. (a) The commission by rule shall provide the conditions for and the manner and method of handling and moving animals: (1) into, in, and from the tick eradication area; (2) into, in, and from quarantined land or …

Sec. 167.030. DISINFECTION OF CONVEYANCE. (a) A person, including a railway or transportation company, who operates a conveyance into which animals are loaded shall clean and disinfect each car or other conveyance after removal of the animals unless the animals are clean and free…

Sec. 167.031. USE OF SAND AS BEDDING IN CONVEYANCE. The commission may establish quarantines and restrict the use of sand as bedding in an animal conveyance except for sand from known tick-free sand pits. Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 1441, ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1981. Amended…

Sec. 167.032. MOVEMENT OF COMMODITIES. The commission may establish quarantines and restrict the movement from quarantined areas of hay, hides, carcasses, or other commodities that are capable of carrying ticks. Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 1441, ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1981.

Sec. 167.033. HANDLING AND REMOVAL OF REFUSE OR DEAD OR INJURED ANIMALS. The commission may establish quarantines and regulate the removal and handling of refuse matter from quarantined stockyards, quarantined stock pens, and other quarantined places and may establish quarantines…

Sec. 167.051. ANIMALS SUBJECT TO TREATMENT. (a) Animals located in the tick eradication area are subject to treatment if the animals: (1) are infested with ticks; (2) were exposed to ticks within the nine months preceding an order to treat; or (3) are on premises described in an …

Sec. 167.052. ORDER TO TREAT. (a) The commission may order the owner, part owner, or caretaker of animals to treat the animals in accordance with the directions of the commission. The order must be dated, in writing, and signed or stamped with the signature of the commission or t…

Sec. 167.053. HEARING. (a) A person is entitled to request and obtain a hearing for the purpose of protesting an order to treat by filing a sworn application with the supervising inspector of the county in which the animals are located. The application must be filed not later tha…

Sec. 167.054. EXCUSE FROM COMPLIANCE WITH ORDER. The supervising inspector of a county for good cause may excuse a person from complying with an order to treat, but shall be held responsible for excusing compliance without good cause. Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 1443, ch. 388, Sec. …

Sec. 167.055. PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR TREATMENT AND ASSISTANCE. (a) A person who owns any interest in animals subject to treatment or who is the caretaker of the animals is responsible for the treatment of the animals under this chapter and is subject to prosecution for failure t…

Sec. 167.056. MANNER OF TREATMENT. If the commission requires animals to be treated, the animals shall be treated in the manner prescribed by the commission. Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 1444, ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1981. Amended by: Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 324 (H.B. …

Sec. 167.057. TREATMENT CHEMICALS. (a) The commission shall prescribe by rule the official materials in which animals are to be treated under this chapter. A person may not treat animals for purposes of this chapter in a material other than an official material prescribed by the …

Sec. 167.059. TREATMENT FACILITIES. (a) The commissioners court of each county, including a county in the free area, in all or part of which the commission conducts tick eradication shall cooperate with the commission and shall furnish facilities necessary to the treatment of ani…

Sec. 167.060. TREATMENT REQUIRED FOR MOVEMENT FROM QUARANTINED AREA. (a) An inspector may not issue a certificate or permit for the movement of animals from a quarantined enclosure unless the owner or caretaker of the animals: (1) is cooperating with the commission in the regular…

Sec. 167.081. DESIGNATION OF FACILITY TO HANDLE CERTIFIED LIVESTOCK. (a) The commission may designate a stockyard that is in the tick eradication area or in the free area and is open to the public for yarding, marketing, and selling livestock as a facility to handle intrastate mo…

Sec. 167.082. NOTICE AND HEARING. (a) The commission shall give written notice of a designation under this subchapter to the stockyard company or to the owner, operator, or other person in control of the stockyard. (b) A person to whom a notice is directed may request a hearing f…

Sec. 167.083. MAINTENANCE OF TICK-FREE FACILITIES. (a) A person who owns or operates and is in control of a stockyard designated under this subchapter shall maintain clean and tick-free facilities, including pens, alleys, and chutes, so that livestock certified by an inspector to…

Sec. 167.101. INSPECTORS. (a) The commissioners court of a county in which the commission conducts tick eradication may nominate the number of local inspectors found by the commission to be necessary for tick eradication in that county. The commission shall appoint those persons …

Sec. 167.102. ENTRY POWER. (a) A commissioner or an inspector, and assistants, may enter public or private property, without a warrant, for the exercise of an authority or performance of a duty under this chapter. (b) If an inspector or commissioner desires to be accompanied by a…

Sec. 167.103. TREATMENT OF ANIMALS BY PEACE OFFICER ON REQUEST OF INSPECTOR. (a) If a person responsible for treating animals fails to treat the animals at the time and place directed in the order or, prior to a treatment date in the order, states that he or she does not intend t…

Sec. 167.104. SEIZURE AND DISPOSAL OF ANIMALS RUNNING AT LARGE. (a) An inspector may request a peace officer to seize animals if: (1) the inspector determines the animals to be running at large or on the open range of a county or part of a county in which the commission is conduc…

Sec. 167.105. SEIZURE AND DISPOSAL OF ANIMALS MOVED IN VIOLATION OF QUARANTINE. (a) An inspector who discovers animals that are being or have been moved in violation of a quarantine may request a peace officer to seize the animals and: (1) impound the animals at the expense of th…

Sec. 167.106. INJUNCTION; MANDAMUS. (a) The commission or a resident of this state may sue for an injunction to compel compliance with a provision of this chapter or to restrain a threatened violation of a provision of this chapter. (b) A resident of this state may sue for mandam…

Sec. 167.107. SALE OF ANIMALS TREATED OR SEIZED BY PEACE OFFICER. (a) A peace officer who gathers and treats or who seizes and impounds or disposes of animals under Section 167.103, 167.104, or 167.105 is entitled to retain and sell the animals for the purpose of securing payment…

Sec. 167.108. LIENS. (a) A peace officer who gathers and treats or who seizes and impounds or disposes of animals under Section 167.103, 167.104, or 167.105 has a lien on the animals for the purpose of securing payment of the officer's fees and the expenses of handling the animal…

Sec. 167.109. ADMISSIBILITY OF COMMISSION INSTRUMENTS; IDENTIFICATION IN COMPLAINT. (a) A copy of a written instrument issued by the commission is admissible as evidence in any court of this state if the copy is certified by the presiding officer of the commission. (b) In a prose…

Sec. 167.110. PRESUMPTION OF EXISTENCE OR SUFFICIENCY OF TREATMENT. (a) In the trial of any case under this chapter in connection with the treatment of animals or the failure to treat animals, it is presumed that: (1) the treatment contained a sufficient amount of treatment chemi…

Sec. 167.111. PRESUMPTION OF OWNERSHIP OR CARE. (a) If an inspector determines that a person is the owner, part owner, or caretaker of animals subject to treatment and an order to treat is issued and served, it is presumed that, at the time of a failure to treat, the person was s…

Sec. 167.112. VENUE OF CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. The owner, part owner, or caretaker of animals is subject to prosecution under this chapter in the county in which the animals and the premises are located, regardless of whether the defendant was in the county at the time of issuance …

Sec. 167.113. CIVIL SUIT AGAINST CORPORATE OFFENDER. If a corporation or an agent of the corporation acting within the agent's scope of authority commits an offense under this chapter, the county attorney of the county in which the violation occurs shall institute a civil suit on…

Sec. 167.131. REFUSAL OF INSPECTION. (a) A person commits an offense if, as the owner, part owner, or caretaker of animals, the person fails to gather the animals for inspection at the time and place ordered by the commission under Section 167.008. (b) An offense under this secti…

Sec. 167.132. MOVEMENT OF ANIMALS IN VIOLATION OF QUARANTINE. (a) A person commits an offense if the person moves, or as owner, part owner, or caretaker permits the movement of, animals from any land, premises, or enclosure that is under quarantine for tick infestation or exposur…

Sec. 167.133. MOVEMENT OF ANIMALS OR COMMODITIES INTO TEXAS FROM QUARANTINED AREA. (a) A person commits an offense if the person: (1) moves animals or, as owner, part owner, or caretaker, permits animals to be moved into this state in violation of Section 167.026(a); or (2) moves…