HBA-DMH C.S.H.B. 2400 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2400 By: Geren Civil Practices 4/17/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, any person hosting or participating in a horse show or horse exhibition is protected from damages arising from the activity with certain exceptions. The purpose of the law is to expressly recognize that equine activity sponsors and participants understand and accept the inherent dangers of handling and working with equine animals. However, the law does not protect participants and sponsors of nonprofit or countywide livestock shows. For example, a county or nonprofit organization is protected from certain liability under the law if the hosts an equine event, but not if the organization hosts a livestock show that includes other types of animals. C.S.H.B. 2400 establishes liability provisions for livestock shows. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2400 amends the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to establish provisions for liability for livestock shows equivalent to existing provisions established for liability for equine activities. The bill requires a livestock show sponsor to post and maintain a sign that contains a prescribed warning if the livestock show sponsor manages or controls a stable, barn, corral, or arena at which the livestock show sponsor conducts a livestock show. The bill provides that the livestock show sponsor must post the sign in a clearly visible location near the stable, barn, corral, or arena and specifies the contents for the warning sign. The bill requires the livestock show sponsor to include the prescribed warning in every written contact that the sponsor enters into with a livestock show participant and provides that the warning must be clearly readable. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2400 differs from the original bill by including that certain persons are liable for damage or damages arising from the personal injury or death caused by a participant in an equine activity or livestock show if, with respect to a livestock show, the injury or death occurred as a result of an activity connected with a livestock show and the injured or deceased party was invited, or otherwise allowed, to participate in that activity by the person and the injured or deceased party was not a participant in the livestock show. The substitute also includes provisions relating to the showing of animals on a competitive basis in a livestock show for the purposes of limiting liability. The substitute modifies the definition of "participant" with respect to a livestock show. The substitute specifies that dangers or conditions for which a person is not liable to include, with respect to equine activities, certain land conditions and hazards.