Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 288
and a copy of the written notice (which is dated to show that the
state agency or political subdivision has not complied). Next,
the attorney general must investigate the complaint to determine
whether legal action is warranted. If it is warranted, the attorney
general must give the chief administrative officer of the agency or
political subdivision a written notice that describes the violation,
states the proposed penalty, and gives them 15 days from the date
the agency or subdivision receives the notice to take down the sign
to avoid the penalty. For repeat offenders that have already been
found liable by a court for their sign, this notice is not required.
That means it takes three days for the agency to ignore a written
notice, the attorney general’s “investigation” period, and possibly
15 days after the attorney general’s notice is received until the
improper sign gets taken down. See Tex. Gov’t Code § 411.209.
How much liability does this statute create for the agency or
political subdivision? For the first violation, the penalty is not less
than $1,000 and not more than $1,500. What happens if it’s the
second violation? The penalty jumps all the way up to not less than
$10,000 and not more than $10,500! Additionally, each day the
sign is posted is considered a separate violation. Unfortunately, this
fine isn’t awarded as a prize to the citizen who catches the sign; it
is deposited in the victims of crime fund instead. See Tex. Gov’t
Code § 411.209.
Can the government sue you for reporting a sign?
Some governmental entities want to stop people from exercising
their Second Amendment rights so badly that they will happily
trample First Amendment rights to do it. When Texas Government
Code Section 411.209 was created to allow private citizens to
put state and local governments and agencies on notice that they
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