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Texas Agriculture Code - Section 71.0091. Seizure, Treatment, And Destruction Of A Citrus Plant, Citrus Plant Product, Or Citrus Substance

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Agriculture Code > Texas Agriculture Code - Section 71.0091. Seizure, Treatment, And Destruction Of A Citrus Plant, Citrus Plant Product, Or Citrus Substance

§ 71.0091. SEIZURE, TREATMENT, AND DESTRUCTION OF A 
CITRUS PLANT, CITRUS PLANT PRODUCT, OR CITRUS SUBSTANCE.  (a) The 
department may seize a citrus plant, citrus plant product, or 
citrus substance that the department determines:
		(1)  is transported or carried from a quarantined area 
in violation of a quarantine order;  or
		(2)  is infected with a disease or insect pest 
dangerous to a citrus plant, citrus plant product, or citrus 
substance, without regard to whether the citrus plant, citrus plant 
product, or citrus substance comes from an area known to be 
infested.
	(b)  If a citrus plant, citrus plant product, or citrus 
substance is seized under Subsection (a)(1) of this section, the 
department immediately shall notify the owner that the citrus 
plant, citrus plant product, or citrus substance is a public 
nuisance and that it must be destroyed, treated, or, if feasible, 
returned to its point of origin.  If a citrus plant, citrus plant 
product, or citrus substance is seized under Subsection (a)(2) of 
this section, the department immediately shall notify the owner 
that the citrus plant, citrus plant product, or citrus substance is 
a public nuisance and must be destroyed or treated.
	(c)  If the owner of a citrus plant, citrus plant product, or 
citrus substance seized under Subsection (a) of this section is 
unknown to the department, the department shall publish or post 
notice that, not earlier than the fifth day after the first day on 
which notice is published or posted, the department may destroy the 
citrus plant, citrus plant product, or citrus substance.  The 
department shall publish the notice for three consecutive days in a 
newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the citrus 
plant, citrus plant product, or citrus substance is located or post 
the notice in the immediate vicinity of the area in which the citrus 
plant, citrus plant product, or citrus substance is located.  The 
notice must describe the citrus plant, citrus plant product, or 
citrus substance seized.  If the owner claims the citrus plant, 
citrus plant product, or citrus substance before the date for 
destruction set by the notice, the department shall deliver the 
citrus plant, citrus plant product, or citrus substance to the 
owner at the owner's expense.  If the owner does not claim the 
citrus plant, citrus plant product, or citrus substance before the 
date the notice specifies that destruction is permitted, the 
department may destroy or arrange for the destruction of the citrus 
plant, citrus plant product, or citrus substance.
	(d)  If the owner of a citrus plant, citrus plant product, or 
citrus substance seized by the department under this section fails 
or refuses to treat or destroy the citrus plant, citrus plant 
product, or citrus substance immediately after being instructed to 
do so by the department, the department may abate the nuisance by 
destroying the citrus plant, citrus plant product, or citrus 
substance or may otherwise treat the citrus plant, citrus plant 
product, or citrus substance so that it is no longer a nuisance.  In 
enforcing this subsection, the department may call on the sheriff 
of the county in which the citrus plant, citrus plant product, or 
citrus substance is located, and the sheriff shall cooperate with 
the department and provide assistance necessary to abate the 
nuisance.
	(e)  The owner of a citrus plant, citrus plant product, or 
citrus substance treated or destroyed by the department under this 
section is liable to the department for the costs of treatment or 
destruction, and the department may sue to collect those costs.
	(f)  The department may enter into an agreement with a 
private entity to obtain assistance in defraying the cost of 
implementing this section.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 230, § 1, eff. May 20, 1993.  
Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 211, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 
1997.

Last modified: August 10, 2007