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

Texas House Bill 1938 (Prior Session Legislation)

TX State Legislature page for HB1938

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.