PARKS AND WILDLIFE CODE

TITLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

SUBCHAPTER A. PURPOSE AND POLICY

Sec. 1.001.  PURPOSE OF CODE.  (a)  This code is enacted as a part of the state's continuing statutory revision program, begun by the Texas Legislative Council in 1963 as directed by the legislature in Chapter 488, Acts of the 58th Legislature, 1963 (Article 5429b-1, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).  The program contemplates a topic-by-topic revision of the state's general and permanent statute law without substantive change.
(b)  Consistent with the objectives of the statutory revision program, the purpose of this code is to make the general and permanent parks and wildlife law more accessible and understandable by:
(1)  rearranging the statutes into a more logical order;
(2)  employing a format and numbering system designed to facilitate citation of the law and to accommodate future expansion of the law;
(3)  eliminating repealed, duplicative, unconstitutional, expired, executed, and other ineffective provisions;  and
(4)  restating the law in modern American English to the greatest extent possible.
Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1405, ch. 545, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975.

Sec. 1.002.  CONSTRUCTION OF CODE.  The Code Construction Act (Chapter 311, Government Code) applies to the construction of each provision in this code, except as otherwise expressly provided by this code.
Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1405, ch. 545, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975.  Amended by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 479, Sec. 68, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

SUBCHAPTER B. PROPERTY OF THE STATE

Sec. 1.011.  PROPERTY OF THE STATE.  (a)  All wild animals, fur-bearing animals, wild birds, and wild fowl inside the borders of this state are the property of the people of this state.
(b)  All fish and other aquatic animal life contained in the freshwater rivers, creeks, and streams and in lakes or sloughs subject to overflow from rivers or other streams within the borders of this state are the property of the people of this state.
(c)  All the beds and bottoms and the products of the beds and bottoms of the public rivers, bayous, lagoons, creeks, lakes, bays, and inlets in this state and of that part of the Gulf of Mexico within the jurisdiction of this state are the property of this state.  The state may permit the use of the waters and bottoms and the taking of the products of the bottoms and waters.
(d)  The Parks and Wildlife Department shall regulate the taking and conservation of fish, oysters, shrimp, crabs, turtles, terrapins, mussels, lobsters, and all other kinds and forms of marine life, or sand, gravel, marl, mud shell, and all other kinds of shell in accordance with the authority vested in it by this code.
Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1405, ch. 545, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975.

Sec. 1.012.  PUBLIC FRESH WATER.  Any public freshwater lake, river, creek, or bayou in this state contained in any survey of private land may not be sold but shall remain open to the public.  The Parks and Wildlife Department is authorized to protect the fish in public waters under rules as it may prescribe.
Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1405, ch. 545, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975.  Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1256, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 1.013.  FENCES.  This code does not prohibit or restrict the owner or occupant of land from constructing or maintaining a fence of any height on the land owned or occupied, and an owner or occupant who constructs such a fence is not liable for the restriction of the movement of wild animals by the fence.  The existence of a fence does not affect the status of wild animals as property of the people of this state.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1256, Sec. 123, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 1.014.  USE OF CERTAIN WEAPONS IN OR ON BED OR BANK OF NAVIGABLE RIVER OR STREAM PROHIBITED.  (a)  In this section:
(1)  "Archery equipment" means a longbow, recurved bow, compound bow, or crossbow.
(2)  "Firearm" has the meaning assigned by Section 62.014.
(3)  "Navigable river or stream" has the meaning assigned by Section 90.001.
(b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), a person may not discharge a firearm or shoot an arrow from any kind of bow if:
(1)  the person is located in or on the bed or bank of a navigable river or stream at the time the firearm is discharged or the arrow is shot from the bow; or
(2)  any portion of the ammunition discharged or arrow shot could physically contact the bed or bank of a navigable river or stream.
(c)  This section does not apply to:
(1)  an individual acting in the scope of the individual's duties as a peace officer or department employee;
(2)  the discharge of a shotgun loaded with ammunition that releases only shot when discharged;
(3)  an individual engaging in fishing using archery equipment, if the individual is in compliance with Subsection (e);
(4)  the discharge of a firearm during the legal taking of an alligator; or
(5)  the discharge of a firearm from the bank of a navigable river or stream to take a venomous snake or nonindigenous rodent by:
(A)  an owner of the land adjacent to or through which the navigable river or stream runs; or
(B)  an agent of an owner described by Paragraph (A).
(d)  This section does not limit the ability of a license holder to carry a handgun under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code.
(e)  An individual engaging in fishing using archery equipment may not possess while fishing:
(1)  an arrow equipped with fletching of any kind;
(2)  an unbarbed arrow; or
(3)  a bow that is not equipped with a reel and line.
(f)  A person who violates this section commits an offense that is a Class C Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
(g)  If conduct that constitutes an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under Title 7, the actor may be prosecuted under this section or the other law, but not both.
Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 272 (H.B. 2027), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2005.
Amended by: 
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 583 (H.B. 3808), Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2011.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 437 (H.B. 910), Sec. 39, eff. January 1, 2016.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 729 (H.B. 489), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2019.
Transferred, redesignated and amended from Parks and Wildlife Code, Section 284.001 by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1090 (S.B. 1236), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2023.

SUBCHAPTER C. DEFINITIONS

Sec. 1.101.  DEFINITIONS.  In this code:
(1)  "Hunt" means capture, trap, take, or kill, or an attempt to capture, trap, take, or kill.
(2)  "Catch" means take or kill and includes an attempt to take or kill.
(3)  "Sell" means to transfer the ownership or the right of possession of an item to a person for consideration and includes a barter and an even exchange.
(4)  "Wild," when used in reference to an animal, means a species, including each individual of a species, that normally lives in a state of nature and is not ordinarily domesticated.  This definition does not include exotic livestock defined by Section 161.001(a)(4), Agriculture Code.
(5)  "Take," except as otherwise provided by this code,  means collect, hook, hunt, net, shoot, or snare, by any means or device, and includes an attempt to take or to pursue in order to take.
Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1405, ch. 545, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975.  Amended by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 378, ch. 153, Sec. 11, eff. Sept. 1, 1981;  Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 424, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1991;  Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1256, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1997;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 604, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by: 
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 992 (H.B. 2026), Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2005.