Sec. 792.002. SMOKE DETECTORS IN HOTELS; CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person who operates a hotel commits an offense if the person:

(1) does not maintain a smoke detector in good working order in every room of the hotel that is regularly used for sleeping;

(2) does not maintain smoke detectors for hearing-impaired persons as prescribed by Subsection (b); or

(3) does not comply with the requirements of Subsection (c) if a hotel patron requests a room with a smoke detector for hearing-impaired persons.

(b) A person who operates a hotel shall maintain one smoke detector for hearing-impaired persons for each 60, or fraction of 60, rooms of the hotel that are regularly used for sleeping, except that the operator is not required to maintain more than five smoke detectors for hearing-impaired persons.

(c) If a hotel patron requests a room with a smoke detector for hearing-impaired persons, the operator of the hotel shall:

(1) assign the patron to a room in which a hard-wired smoke detector for hearing-impaired persons has been properly installed; or

(2) install in the patron's room a portable smoke detector for hearing-impaired persons using a receptacle that cannot be controlled by a wall switch.

(d) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

(e) A person commits a separate offense under this section on each calendar day the person commits the offense.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.