Focus Report, Volume 86, Number 3, August 2019 Page: 23
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* Proposition 10: Allowing retired law
enforcement animal transfer without fee
SJR 32 by Birdwell (Tinderholt)Background
Texas Constitution Art. 3, sec. 51 prohibits the
Legislature from making or authorizing any grant of public
moneys to any individual, association of individuals, or
municipal or other corporations, except when granting aid
in cases of public calamity.
Sec. 52(a) prohibits the Legislature from authorizing
any county, city, town, or other political corporation or
subdivision to lend its credit or to grant public money or
thing of value in aid of or to any individual, association, or
corporation.
* Digest
Proposition 10 would add sec. 521 to Art. 3 of the
Texas Constitution to allow the Legislature to authorize a
state agency or a county, municipality, or other political
subdivision to transfer without fee a law enforcement dog,
horse, or other animal to the animal's handler or another
qualified caretaker upon the animal's retirement or at
another time if it was in the animal's best interest.
The ballot proposal reads: "The constitutional
amendment to allow the transfer of a law enforcement
animal to a qualified caretaker in certain circumstances."
Supporters say
Proposition 10 is necessary to allow the Legislature to
clarify the authority of law enforcement agencies to retire
law enforcement animals to their former handlers or other
qualified caretakers for no fee. Many law enforcement
agencies in Texas use dogs, horses, and other animals to
help them perform their duties. The animals and handlers
create a bond, especially in the case of K-9s that go home
with their handlers every day while in service, which for
some dogs can be around 10 years. When these animalsretire, their former handlers often adopt them from the
agencies for no fee. However, current law has caused
confusion about this common and humane practice.
Texas law classifies domestic animals as property, and
sections of the Texas Constitution generally prohibit
the state, a county, a city, or other political subdivision
from transferring valuable property to an individual or
private organization without payment. Approving this
constitutional amendment would honor the bond between
law enforcement animals and their handlers by ensuring
that these animals could retire in the homes where they
live and receive continued humane care.
Critics say
Because under current law the transfer of law
enforcement animals may occur for a nominal fee,
Proposition 10 is not necessary to achieve the transfer
of such an animal to its handler's care upon the animal's
retirement.
Notes
Proposition 10's enabling legislation, SB 2100 by
Birdwell, took effect on May 14, 2019. The bill allows a
governing body of a state agency or political subdivision
to enter into a contract with a person for the transfer of a
law enforcement dog, horse, or other animal if the head
of a law enforcement agency, after consultation with the
animal's veterinarian and caretakers, deems the animal
suitable for transfer and surplus to the agency's needs. The
animal is surplus to agency needs if the animal is at the
end of its working life or subject to circumstances that
justify its transfer before the end of its working life. A law
enforcement animal may be transferred only to a person
who is capable of humanely caring for it and selected
by the head of the agency in a certain order of priority,
beginning with the animal's former handler. If more than
one person requests to receive the animal, the agency headHouse Research Organization
Page 23
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Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives. Research Organization. Focus Report, Volume 86, Number 3, August 2019, periodical, August 27, 2019; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1364417/m1/23/?q=%22~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.