Texas Health and Safety Code
§ 81.084 — APPLICATION OF CONTROL MEASURES TO PROPERTY
HS § 81.084Title 2. HEALTH · Part D. PREVENTION, CONTROL, AND REPORTS OF DISEASES; PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES · Ch. 81. COMMUNICABLE DISEASES; PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTERS; PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES · Art. E. CONTROL; PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTERS; PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES
Statute text
View on source(a)If the department or a health authority has reasonable cause to believe that property in its jurisdiction is or may be infected or contaminated with a communicable disease, the department or health authority may place the property in quarantine for the period necessary for a medical examination or technical analysis of samples taken from the property to determine if the property is infected or contaminated. The department or health authority may tag an object for identification with a notice of possible infection or contamination.
(b)The department or health authority shall send notice of its action by registered or certified mail or by personal delivery to the person who owns or controls the property. If the property is land or a structure or an animal or other property on the land, the department or health authority shall also post the notice on the land and at a place convenient to the public in the county courthouse. If the property is infected or contaminated as a result of a public health disaster, the department or health authority is not required to provide notice under this subsection.
(c)The department or health authority shall remove the quarantine and return control of the property to the person who owns or controls it if the property is found not to be infected or contaminated. The department or health authority by written order may require the person who owns or controls the property to impose control measures that are technically feasible to disinfect or decontaminate the property if the property is found to be infected or contaminated.
(d)The department or health authority shall remove the quarantine and return control of the property to the person who owns or controls it if the control measures are effective. If the control measures are ineffective or if there is not a technically feasible control measure available for use, the department or health authority may continue the quarantine and order the person who owns or controls the property:
(1)to destroy the property, other than land, in a manner that disinfects or decontaminates the property to prevent the spread of infection or contamination;
(2)if the property is land, to securely fence the perimeter of the land or any part of the land that is infected or contaminated; or
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Legislative history
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 314 (H.B. 1690), Sec. 3, eff. June 14, 2013. Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.0234, eff. April 2, 2015.