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CHAPTER 31. WATER SAFETY
§ 31.127.
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| (d) The operator of a vessel who is involved in a collision, accident, or other casualty that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person and fails to comply with Section 31.104 commits an offense that is a Parks and Wildlife Code felony. |
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CHAPTER 43, SUBCHAPTER G. PERMITS TO MANAGE WILDLIFE AND EXOTIC ANIMALS FROM AIRCRAFT
§ 43.111. PENALTY
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(a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, a person who violates any provision of this subchapter or a proclamation or regulation adopted under this subchapter commits an offense that is a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
(b) A person who violates Section 43.107 commits an offense that is a Class C Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
(c) If it is shown at the trial of the defendant for a violation of this subchapter or a proclamation or regulation adopted under this subchapter that the defendant has been convicted of a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor violation of this subchapter within 10 years preceding the trial date, on conviction the defendant shall be punished for a Parks and Wildlife Code felony. This subsection does not apply if the previous conviction was for a violation of Section 43.107. |
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SUBTITLE B. HUNTING AND FISHING
§ 61.022. TAKING WILDLIFE RESOURCES WITHOUT CONSENT OF LANDOWNER PROHIBITED
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(a) No person may hunt or catch by any means or method or possess a wildlife resource at any time and at any place covered by this chapter unless the owner of the land or water, or the owner's agent, consents.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a person who violates Subsection (a) the first time commits an offense that is a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor and is punishable in addition by the revocation or suspension under Section 12.5015 of hunting and fishing licenses and permits.
(c) A person who violates Subsection (a) the first time by killing a desert bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, or white-tailed deer commits an offense that is a Parks and Wildlife Code state jail felony and is punishable in addition by the revocation or suspension under Section 12.5015 of hunting and fishing licenses and permits.
(d) A second violation of Subsection (a) shall be classified as one category higher than the first violation or a Parks and Wildlife Code felony, whichever is lesser, and is punishable in addition by the revocation or suspension under Section 12.5015 of hunting and fishing licenses and permits.
(e) A third or subsequent violation of Subsection (a) shall be classified as a Parks and Wildlife Code felony and is punishable in addition by the revocation or suspension under Section 12.5015 of hunting and fishing licenses and permits. |
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CHAPTER 62. PROVISIONS GENERALLY APPLICABLE TO HUNTING
§ 62.003. HUNTING FROM VEHICLES
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(a) Except as provided in Subsection (b) of this section, no person may hunt from any type of aircraft or airborne device, motor vehicle, powerboat, or sailboat, or from any other floating device any wild bird or wild animal.
(b) Animals and birds not classified as migratory may be hunted from a motor vehicle, powerboat, or sailboat, or from any other floating device within the boundaries of private property or upon private water by a person who is legally on the property or water for the purpose of hunting if no attempt is made to hunt any wild bird or wild animal on any part of the road system of this state. |
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| § 62.004. HUNTING AT NIGHT |
| No person may hunt any wild bird, wild game bird, wild fowl, or wild game animal protected by this code at any season of the year between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise. |
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| § 62.005. HUNTING WITH LIGHT |
| No person may hunt a game animal or bird protected by this code with the aid of an artificial light that casts or reflects a beam of light onto or otherwise illuminates the game animal or bird, including the headlights of a motor vehicle. |
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| § 62.011. |
| (c) It is an offense if a person while hunting kills or wounds a desert bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, or white-tailed deer and intentionally or knowingly fails to make a reasonable effort to retrieve the animal or intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly or with criminal negligence fails to keep the edible parts of the animal in an edible condition. |
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| § 62.013. PENALTIES |
(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a person who violates a provision of this subchapter commits an offense that is a Class C Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
(b) A person who violates Section 62.003, 62.004, 62.005, or 62.011(c) of this code commits an offense that is a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor, unless it is shown at the trial of the defendant for a violation of that section that the defendant has been convicted one or more times before the trial date of a violation of that section, in which case the offense is a Parks and Wildlife Code state jail felony. |
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| § 63.102. WOLVES |
(a) No person may possess, transport, receive, or release a live wolf in this state.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to the transportation of a wolf by a state or county official while performing an official duty or to the possession or transportation of a wolf by the owner or agent of a licensed circus, zoo, or menagerie for exhibition or scientific purposes. |
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| § 63.104. PENALTIES |
| (a) A person who violates Section 63.102 of this code commits an offense that is a Parks and Wildlife Code felony. |
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CHAPTER 66. FISH
§ 66.012.
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| (d) If it is shown at the trial of the defendant for a violation of Section 66.004 [ED NOTE: forbids fishing with electric shock], 66.007 [ED NOTE: forbids having harmful aquatic species], or 66.015 [ED NOTE:forbids putting exotic species into public water] of this code that the defendant has been convicted two or more times before the trial date of a violation of the same section, on conviction the defendant shall be punished for a Parks and Wildlife Code felony. |
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| § 66.119. FRAUD IN FRESHWATER FISHING TOURNAMENTS |
(a) In this section, "fishing tournament" means a contest in which a prize is to be awarded to one or more participants in the contest based on the weight, length, number, or type of freshwater fish caught by the participants or based on any other criteria applicable to the fish caught.
(b) A person commits an offense if, with intent to affect the outcome of a fishing tournament: |
(1) the person provides, offers to provide, sells, or offers to sell a fish to a participant in the tournament for the purpose of representing that the fish was caught by the participant in the course of the tournament;
(2) the person, as a participant in the tournament, accepts or agrees to accept a fish from another person for the purpose of representing that the fish was caught by the participant in the course of the tournament; or
(3) the person, as a participant in the tournament, represents that a fish was caught by the person in the course of the tournament when in fact the fish was not caught by that person or the fish was not caught in the course of that tournament. |
(c) A person commits an offense if the person sponsors or conducts a fishing tournament and knows of the occurrence in the tournament of activity prohibited by Subsection (b) of this section and does not immediately notify a law enforcement officer commissioned by the director of its occurrence.
(d) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, except that if the offense occurred during a tournament in which any prize or combination of prizes to be awarded for any one category for which an award is given, whether the prize or prizes are to an individual or a team, is worth $10,000 or more in money or goods, the offense is a felony of the third degree. |
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CHAPTER 76. OYSTERS
§ 76.037. THEFT OF OYSTERS FROM PRIVATE BED
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| No person may fraudulently take oysters placed on private beds without the consent of the owner of the private bed or from beds or deposits made for the purpose of preparing oysters for market without the consent of the owner of the oysters who lawfully deposited them. |
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| § 76.038. INTERFERENCE WITH BUOYS OR MARKERS |
(a) No person may deface, injure, destroy, or remove a buoy, marker, or fence used to designate or enclose a private oyster bed or location where oysters have been deposited for preparation for market without the consent of the owner of the bed or location.
(b) No person may deface, injure, destroy, or remove a buoy, marker, or sign of the department used for designating water closed for the taking of fish or oysters without the consent of the department. |
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| § 76.040. |
(b) A person who violates Section 76.037 or Section 76.038 of this code commits an offense that is a Class B Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
(c) If it is shown at the trial of the defendant that he has been convicted once within five years before the trial date of a violation of Section 76.037 or 76.038 of this code, he is guilty of a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
(d) If it is shown at the trial of the defendant that he has been convicted two or more times within five years before the trial date of a violation of Section 76.037 or 76.038 of this code, he is guilty of a Parks and Wildlife Code felony. |
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| § 76.101. OYSTER LICENSES REQUIRED |
(a) No person may take or attempt to take oysters from the public water of this state for noncommercial use by the use of a dredge or tongs without first having acquired a sport oyster boat license from the department.
(b) Except as provided in Subsection (d) of this section, no person may take or attempt to take oysters from the public water of this state for pay or for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange or any other commercial purpose without first having acquired from the department a commercial oyster fisherman's license.
(c) No person may take or attempt to take oysters from the public water of this state by the use of a dredge, tongs, or other mechanical means, or by the use of a boat or other vessel for pay, or for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange or any other commercial purpose without first having acquired from the department a commercial oyster boat license.
(d) The captain and crew of a licensed commercial oyster boat are not required to have commercial oyster fisherman's licenses to take oysters while they are on a licensed boat that is being used to take oysters.
(e) The captain and each crew member of a licensed commercial oyster boat, each person on a licensed sport oyster boat, and each person oystering under a commercial oyster fisherman's license must possess and produce on request to any enforcement officer proof of the person's identity.
(f) The captain of a commercial oyster boat must hold a valid commercial oyster boat captain's license to operate a commercial oyster boat while taking or attempting to take oysters from the public water of this state. |
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| § 76.107. SALE OF SPORT OYSTERS PROHIBITED |
| No person may sell oysters taken under the authority of a sport oyster boat license. |
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| § 76.109. NIGHT DREDGING PROHIBITED |
| During the open season, no person may take oysters from public water during the period between sunset and sunrise. |
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| § 76.116. OYSTERS FROM RESTRICTED AREAS |
(a) There is no open season for taking oysters from areas closed by the Texas Department of Health.
(b) The department may authorize by permit the transplanting of oysters from restricted areas or other areas designated by the department to private oyster leases.
(c) A person removing oysters from a restricted area or other area designated by the department without a permit shall replace the oysters in the beds from which they were taken as directed by authorized employees of the department. |
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| § 76.118. |
(f) If it is shown at the trial of a defendant for a violation of Section 76.101, 76.107, 76.109, or 76.116 of this code that the defendant has been convicted two or more times within five years before the trial date of a violation of Section 76.101, 76.107, 76.109, or 76.116 of this code, the defendant is guilty of a Parks and Wildlife Code felony.
(g) If it is shown at the trial of a defendant for a violation at the same time of Section 76.109 and either Section 76.116 or Section 76.205 of this code that the defendant has been convicted once before within five years before the trial date of a violation at the same time of Section 76.109 and either Section 76.116 or 76.205 of this code, the defendant is guilty of a Parks and Wildlife Code felony. |
