H.B. No. 167
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to exempting a religious bible from attachment, execution,
  or other seizure for the satisfaction of debts.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 42.001, Property Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read
  as follows:
         (b)  The following personal property is exempt from seizure
  and is not included in the aggregate limitations prescribed by
  Subsection (a):
               (1)  current wages for personal services, except for
  the enforcement of court-ordered child support payments;
               (2)  professionally prescribed health aids of a debtor
  or a dependent of a debtor; [and]
               (3)  alimony, support, or separate maintenance
  received or to be received by the debtor for the support of the
  debtor or a dependent of the debtor; and
               (4)  a religious bible or other book containing sacred
  writings of a religion that is seized by a creditor other than a
  lessor of real property who is exercising the lessor's contractual
  or statutory right to seize personal property after a tenant
  breaches a lease agreement for or abandons the real property.
         (c)  Except as provided by Subsection (b)(4), this [This]
  section does not prevent seizure by a secured creditor with a
  contractual landlord's lien or other security in the property to be
  seized.
         (e)  A religious bible or other book described by Subsection
  (b)(4) that is seized by a lessor of real property in the exercise
  of the lessor's contractual or statutory right to seize personal
  property after a tenant breaches a lease agreement for the real
  property or abandons the real property may not be included in the
  aggregate limitations prescribed by Subsection (a).
         SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act do not apply
  to property that is, as of the effective date of this Act, subject
  to a voluntary bankruptcy proceeding or to valid claims of a holder
  of a final judgment who has, by levy or other legal process,
  obtained rights superior to those that would otherwise be held by a
  trustee in bankruptcy if a bankruptcy petition were then pending
  against the debtor. That property is subject to the law as it
  existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
  prior law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 167 was passed by the House on March
  28, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 145, Nays 0, 2 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 167 on May 17, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1
  present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 167 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 15, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor