Texas Codes
Tex. Transp. Code § 61.003 (2026)
Duty To Engage Pilot
✓ current as of May 2026
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Sec. 61.003. DUTY TO ENGAGE PILOT. (a) A consignee having control of a vessel shall obtain a pilot to provide pilot services when the vessel is under way or otherwise moving on a river, bay, harbor, or port in this state unless the vessel is:
(1) documented as a United States vessel and licensed for and engaged in coastwise trade;
(2) a public vessel;
(3) of 20 gross tons or less;
(4) a motorboat registered in this state; or
(5) subject to Subsection (b), in distress or jeopardy.
(b) A consignee having control of a vessel that is in distress or jeopardy shall take on a pilot as soon as the pilot arrives at the vessel.
Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1
case (1 in the last 5 years), 2025–2025 · leading case: The Galveston-Texas City Pilots Ass'n v. Houston Pilots (S.D. Tex. 2025).
The Galveston-Texas City Pilots Ass'n v. Houston Pilots (S.D. Tex. 2025). “” Tex. Transp. Code § 61.003(a). Coastwise vessels—that is, vessels transporting goods along a coast within the territorial waters of the United States—are, however, exempt from Texas’s compulsory pilotage scheme.”
— Tex. Transp. Code § 61.003(a) — 1 case
The Galveston-Texas City Pilots Ass'n v. Houston Pilots (S.D. Tex. 2025). “” Tex. Transp. Code § 61.003(a). Coastwise vessels—that is, vessels transporting goods along a coast within the territorial waters of the United States—are, however, exempt from Texas’s compulsory pilotage scheme.”
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