Bill Text: TX HB1938 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Relating to the regulation of body imaging scanning equipment in airports; providing criminal and civil penalties.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 45-11)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-09 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB1938 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB1938-Comm_Sub.html
  82R20294 JRH-F
 
  By: Simpson, Rodriguez, Menendez, Kolkhorst, H.B. No. 1938
      Chisum, et al.
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1938:
 
  By:  Fletcher C.S.H.B. No. 1938
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the regulation of body imaging scanning equipment in
  airports; providing criminal and civil penalties.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 22, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 22.902 to read as follows:
         Sec. 22.902.  BODY IMAGING SCANNING EQUIPMENT. (a)  In this
  section:
               (1)  "Airport operator" means:
                     (A)  a local government that owns or controls an
  airport; or
                     (B)  a person who operates, as the agent of a local
  government or otherwise, an airport owned or controlled by the
  local government.
               (2)  "Body imaging scanning equipment" means a device,
  including a device that uses backscatter x-rays or millimeter
  waves, that has the capability of capturing or transmitting data
  for use in creating a visual image of a person's unclothed body and
  that is intended to detect concealed objects.
         (b)  An airport operator may not allow body imaging scanning
  equipment to be installed or operated in any airport in this state
  unless:
               (1)  the body imaging scanning equipment is used
  exclusively as part of the investigation of a person who the
  equipment operator has probable cause to believe has committed an
  offense; or
               (2)  the airport operator establishes a procedure that
  prohibits a person from being scanned with the equipment unless the
  person, immediately before the scan is performed, gives written
  consent to the scan to the equipment operator or to an agent or
  employee of the airport operator after being informed of the
  potential health hazards posed by the equipment.
         (c)  An airport operator commits an offense if the operator
  fails to comply with Subsection (b).
         (d)  An airport operator who commits an offense under
  Subsection (c) is subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to
  exceed $10,000 for each day of the violation.
         (e)  The attorney general may bring suit in a district court
  of Travis County:
               (1)  for injunctive relief; or
               (2)  to collect the civil penalty described by
  Subsection (d), plus court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, and
  costs incurred by the attorney general.
         SECTION 2.  If any person challenges the validity of Section
  22.902, Transportation Code, as added by this Act, in a criminal,
  civil, or administrative proceeding on grounds of
  unconstitutionality, preemption, or sovereign immunity, the
  attorney general of this state, with the consent of the local county
  or district attorney, as appropriate, shall take any actions
  necessary on behalf of the state to defend the validity of the
  statute. The attorney general may make any legal arguments the
  attorney general considers appropriate, including that this Act
  constitutes a valid exercise of:
               (1)  the state's police powers;
               (2)  the liberty interests of the people secured by the
  Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution;
               (3)  the powers reserved to the states by the Tenth
  Amendment to the United States Constitution; or
               (4)  the rights and protections secured by the Texas
  Constitution.
         SECTION 3.  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. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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