Sec. 81.085. AREA QUARANTINE; CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) If an outbreak of communicable disease occurs in this state, the commissioner or one or more health authorities may impose an area quarantine coextensive with the area affected. The commissioner may impose an area quarantine, if the commissioner has reasonable cause to believe that individuals or property in the area may be infected or contaminated with a communicable disease, for the period necessary to determine whether an outbreak of communicable disease has occurred. A health authority may impose the quarantine only within the boundaries of the health authority's jurisdiction.

(b) A health authority may not impose an area quarantine until the authority consults with the department. A health authority that imposes an area quarantine shall give written notice to and shall consult with the governing body of each county and municipality in the health authority's jurisdiction that has territory in the affected area as soon as practicable.

(c) The department may impose additional disease control measures in a quarantine area that the department considers necessary and most appropriate to arrest, control, and eradicate the threat to the public health. Absent preemptive action by the department under this chapter or by the governor under Chapter 418, Government Code (Texas Disaster Act of 1975), a health authority may impose in a quarantine area under the authority's jurisdiction additional disease control measures that the health authority considers necessary and most appropriate to arrest, control, and eradicate the threat to the public health.

(d) If an affected area includes territory in an adjacent state, the department may enter into cooperative agreements with the appropriate officials or agencies of that state to:

(1) exchange morbidity, mortality, and other technical information;

(2) receive extrajurisdictional inspection reports;

(3) coordinate disease control measures;

(4) disseminate instructions to the population of the area, operators of interstate private or common carriers, and private vehicles in transit across state borders; and

(5) participate in other public health activities appropriate to arrest, control, and eradicate the threat to the public health.

(e) The department or health authority may use all reasonable means of communication to inform persons in the quarantine area of the department's or health authority's orders and instructions during the period of area quarantine. The department or health authority shall publish at least once each week during the area quarantine period, in a newspaper of general circulation in the area, a notice of the orders or instructions in force with a brief explanation of their meaning and effect. Notice by publication is sufficient to inform persons in the area of their rights, duties, and obligations under the orders or instructions.

(f) The department or, with the department's consent, a health authority may terminate an area quarantine.

(g) To provide isolation and quarantine facilities during an area quarantine, the commissioner's court of a county, the governing body of a municipality, or the governing body of a hospital district may suspend the admission of patients desiring admission for elective care and treatment, except for needy or indigent residents for whom the county, municipality, or district is constitutionally or statutorily required to care.

(h) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly fails or refuses to obey a rule, order, or instruction of the department or an order or instruction of a health authority issued under a department rule and published during an area quarantine under this section. An offense under this subsection is a felony of the third degree.

(i) On request of the department during a public health disaster, an individual shall disclose the individual's immunization information. If the individual does not have updated or appropriate immunizations, the department may take appropriate action during a quarantine to protect that individual and the public from the communicable disease.

(j) A peace officer, including a sheriff or constable, may use reasonable force to:

(1) secure a quarantine area; and

(2) except as directed by the department or health authority, prevent an individual from entering or leaving the quarantine area.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 198, Sec. 2.182, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 314 (H.B. 1690), Sec. 4, eff. June 14, 2013.