Question:  Where can I get those Agritourism Act signs? Answer: Since the Texas Agritourism Act was passed by the Legislature back in 2015, I’ve been traveling the state talking to landowners about the limited liability protections this statute offers to them. [Click here for more background on this statute.] One way to receive this limited liability is for a landowner to hang up a specific Texas Agritourism Act sign on his or her property.  The sign must be hung at a place clearly visible at or near where the… Read More →

Since I wrote a blog post several months ago outlining the newly enacted Texas Agritourism Act, I have gotten a flurry of questions from folks across the state related to the Act’s protection and application.  I thought I would take the time to answer a few of these questions today. Where can I find more information about the Agritourism Act? To read a prior blog post I wrote discussing the basics of the Agritourism Act, click here.  To read a more in depth legal discussion of landowner liability statues (including the… Read More →

As was briefly mentioned in this prior legislative recap post, Texas now has a new statute offering liability protection for agritourism operations.  The Act, carried as SB 610 and now codified as Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 75A, offers important protections of which landowners need to be aware.   The statute provides that an “agritourism entity” is not liable to any person for injury or damages to an “agritourism participant” if: (1) the required signage is posted; or (2) a written agreement containing required language is obtained. Let’s… Read More →

When a teenager was killed while riding in an ATV owned by Blackjack Ranch, was the Ranch liable for his death?  This was the question before the court in Mitschke v. Borromeo. Background Justin Behrens worked as the foreman and sole employee of Blackjack Ranch (Ranch).  The Ranch was owned by Marida Favia del Core Borromeo (Marida).  The Ranch and Marida owned a Polaris Ranger ATV. On April 2017, the ATV was parked at Justin’s house.  Justin’s 16-year-old son, Bristen, and two of his 16 year-old friends took the… Read More →

After my blog post about amendments to the Texas Farm Animal Liability Act, my email inbox was bombarded with questions about the various signs that landowners should consider having, what the differences are between the signs, and where to purchase the signs.  I thought it might be helpful to do a rundown on the common signs landowners should consider having from a liability protection perspective. Rural landowners should consider hanging two signs from a liability protection perspective: The Texas Farm Animal Liability Act sign and the Texas Agritourism… Read More →