Bill Text: TX HB1750 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to the use of force or deadly force in defense of a person.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-05-07 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB1750 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB1750-Comm_Sub.html
87R21401 JCG-D | |||
By: Crockett, Sherman, Sr., Patterson, | H.B. No. 1750 | ||
Reynolds, Cook | |||
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1750: | |||
By: Collier | C.S.H.B. No. 1750 |
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relating to the use of force or deadly force in defense of a person. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 9.31(a), Penal Code, is amended to read | ||
as follows: | ||
(a) Except as provided in Subsection (b), a person is | ||
justified in using force against another when and to the degree the | ||
actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to | ||
protect the actor against the other's use or attempted use of | ||
unlawful force. The actor's belief that the force was immediately | ||
necessary as described by this subsection is presumed to be | ||
reasonable if the actor: | ||
(1) knew or had reason to believe that the person | ||
against whom the force was used: | ||
(A) unlawfully and with force entered, or was | ||
attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the actor's occupied | ||
habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; | ||
(B) unlawfully and with force removed, or was | ||
attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the actor from the | ||
actor's habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; or | ||
(C) was committing or attempting to commit | ||
aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual | ||
assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery; | ||
(2) did not provoke the person against whom the force | ||
was used; [ |
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(3) was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, | ||
other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or | ||
ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used; and | ||
(4) had received consent or otherwise had a right to be | ||
present at the location where the force was used. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 9.32(b), Penal Code, is amended to read | ||
as follows: | ||
(b) The actor's belief under Subsection (a)(2) that the | ||
deadly force was immediately necessary as described by that | ||
subdivision is presumed to be reasonable if the actor: | ||
(1) knew or had reason to believe that the person | ||
against whom the deadly force was used: | ||
(A) unlawfully and with force entered, or was | ||
attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the actor's occupied | ||
habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; | ||
(B) unlawfully and with force removed, or was | ||
attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the actor from the | ||
actor's habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; or | ||
(C) was committing or attempting to commit an | ||
offense described by Subsection (a)(2)(B); | ||
(2) did not provoke the person against whom the force | ||
was used; [ |
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(3) was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, | ||
other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or | ||
ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used; and | ||
(4) had received consent or otherwise had a right to be | ||
present at the location where the force was used. | ||
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An | ||
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed | ||
by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the | ||
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of | ||
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of | ||
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |