TITLE: Relating to a documented member of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas hunting certain deer.

SUMMARY: Relating to a documented member of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas hunting certain deer.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to a documented member of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas hunting certain deer. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 42.001(1), Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows: (1) "Resident" means: (A) an individual who has resided continuously in this state for more than six months immediately before applying for a hunting license; (B) a member of the United States armed forces on active duty; (C) a dependent of a member of the United States armed forces on active duty; (D) if approved by the director, a terminally ill individual who is participating in an event sponsored by a charitable nonprofit organization; [or] (E) a member of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas who possesses documentation of membership sanctioned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs; or (F) a member of any other category of individuals that the commission by regulation designates as residents. SECTION 2. Section 61.021, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 61.021. TAKING WILDLIFE RESOURCES PROHIBITED. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or permitted under a proclamation issued by the commission under this chapter, no person may hunt, catch, or possess a game bird or game animal, fish, marine animal, or other aquatic life at any time or in any place covered by this chapter. (b) A documented member of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas who holds a license under Section 42.002 may hunt antlerless white-tailed deer for religious ceremonial purposes on any day of the year between one-half hour before sunrise and one-half hour after sunset. A documented member of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas hunting antlerless white-tailed deer under this subsection: (1) shall comply with all other provisions of this code and proclamations adopted under this code; (2) shall notify: (A) a local game warden, deputy game warden, or special game warden at least 24 hours before hunting antlerless white-tailed deer at a time of the year when a person who holds a license under Section 42.002 but who is not a documented member of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas may not hunt antlerless white-tailed deer; and (B) the department not later than September 1st of each year of the member's intent to hunt antlerless white-tailed deer for the following calendar year; and (3) may not hunt antlerless white-tailed deer outside an open hunting season in a chronic wasting disease containment or surveillance zone, as determined by the department. (c) Subsection (b) applies only to hunting on land that is: (1) owned or leased by the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas; and (2) located in a county that: (A) borders the United Mexican States and has a population of more than 50,000 but less than 60,000; or (B) is adjacent to a county described by Paragraph (A) and has a population of less than 9,000. SECTION 3. Section 61.057(a), Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows: (a) Except as provided by Section 61.021 and [in] Subsection (c) [of this section],no person may hunt an antlerless deer or antelope in this state without first having acquired an antlerless deer or antelope permit issued by the department on a form provided by the department. SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.