Tex. Health & Safety Code § 81.089 · Subchapter E. CONTROL; PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTERS; PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES
TRANSPORTATION; CRIMINAL PENALTY.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) A person commits an offense if, before notifying the department or health authority at a port of entry or a place of first landing or first arrival in this state, the person knowingly or intentionally:
(1) transports or causes to be transported into this state an object the person knows or suspects may be infected or contaminated with a communicable disease that is a threat to the public health;
(2) transports or causes to be transported into this state an individual who the person knows has or is the carrier of a communicable disease that is a threat to the public health; or
(3) transports or causes to be transported into this state a person, animal, or object in a private or common carrier or a private conveyance that the person knows is or suspects may be infected or contaminated with a communicable disease that is a threat to the public health.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, except that if the person acts with the intent to harm or defraud another, the offense is a felony of the third degree.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 198, Sec. 2.185, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/HS/htm/HS.81.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 d319c4c289601c4c57328daa078618eb9e2668f386d4fad92cd8d6420ea2efa4
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.