TITLE 31. NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION

DIVISION 1. LICENSE, PERMIT, AND BOAT AND MOTOR FEES

31 TAC §53.5

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission in a duly noticed meeting on August 21, 2025, adopted an amendment to 31 TAC §53.5, concerning Recreational Hunting Licenses, Stamps, and Tags, without change to the proposed text as published in the July 18, 2025, issue of the Texas Register (50 TexReg 4080). The rule will not be republished.

The amendment comports the agency's rules regarding license types to reflect the enactment of Senate Bill 1247 by the most recent regular session of the Texas Legislature. Senate Bill 1247 amended Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 42, to eliminate three types of nonresident hunting licenses (the nonresident special hunting license, the nonresident spring turkey hunting license, and the nonresident banded bird hunting license), retitle the general nonresident hunting license as the nonresident general hunting license, and add alligators to the species that may be lawfully taken under that license.

The amendment also eliminates subsection (a)(3)(B) to comport the section with other rules that establish provisions for digital license products offered by the department and makes a nonsubstantive grammatical change in subsection (a)(9).

The department received one comment opposing adoption of the rule as proposed. The comment concerned an unrelated license product and thus was not germane to the rulemaking. No changes were made as a result of the comment.

The department received nine comments supporting adoption of the rule as proposed.

The amendment is adopted under the provisions of Senate Bill 1247, enacted by the 89th Texas Legislature (RS), which eliminated the nonresident special hunting license, the nonresident spring turkey hunting license, and the nonresident banded bird hunting license.

The agency certifies that legal counsel has reviewed the adoption and found it to be a valid exercise of the agency's legal authority.

Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on October 24, 2025.

TRD-202503824

James Murphy

General Counsel

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Effective date: November 13, 2025

Proposal publication date: July 18, 2025

For further information, please call: (512) 389-4775

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