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Texas Parks and Wildlife Code - Section 12.103. Entering Land; Use Of Information Obtained By Entry; Civil Penalty

Legal Research Home > Texas Laws > Parks and Wildlife Code > Texas Parks and Wildlife Code - Section 12.103. Entering Land; Use Of Information Obtained By Entry; Civil Penalty

§ 12.103. ENTERING LAND;  USE OF INFORMATION OBTAINED BY 
ENTRY;  CIVIL PENALTY.  (a) To enforce the game and fish laws of the 
state and to conduct scientific investigations and research 
regarding wild game or fish, an authorized employee of the 
department may enter on any land or water where wild game or fish 
are known to range or stray.  No action may be sustained against an 
employee of the department to prevent his entering on land or water 
when acting in his official capacity as described by this 
subsection.
	(b)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), the department may 
use information collected by an employee of the department on 
privately owned land only for the purposes of scientific 
investigations and research described in Subsection (a) and only if 
authorized in writing by the landowner or the landowner's agent.  
Unless the department first obtains the written consent of the 
landowner or the landowner's agent, the department may not:
		(1)  use other incidental information obtained on the 
land that does not pertain directly to the investigation or 
research authorized under Subsection (a);  or
		(2)  enter or permit the entry of any information that 
does not pertain directly to the investigation or research 
authorized under Subsection (a), into a database:
			(A)  maintained by the department and available to 
a person other than a department employee;
			(B)  maintained by a natural heritage program 
administered by the department;  or
			(C)  established and maintained by any other 
person.                       
	(c)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), information 
collected under this section may only be reported or compiled in a 
manner that prevents the identification of an individual parcel or 
specific parcels of private property without the written consent of 
the landowner or the landowner's agent.
	(d)  The department may collect and enter data as necessary 
relating to the occurrence or harvest of natural resources in 
public land or water.  The department may collect and report 
standardized annual wildlife survey information required by the 
Pitman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. Section 669 et 
seq.).
	(e)  The department is liable to a private landowner for a 
civil penalty in the amount of $1,000 for a violation of this 
section involving information collected by an employee of the 
department on the landowner's property.  A landowner may bring suit 
to collect the penalty in the county in which the land is located or 
the county in which the landowner resides.

Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1405, ch. 545, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975.  
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 521, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 
1995.

Last modified: August 11, 2007