Bill Text: TX HB1316 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain criminal offenses involving the smuggling of persons or the operation of a stash house; increasing criminal penalties.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-03 - Referred to State Affairs [HB1316 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB1316-Introduced.html

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88R6829 JRR-F
By: Allison H.B. No. 1316

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain criminal
offenses involving the smuggling of persons or the operation of a
stash house; increasing criminal penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 20.05(a), (b), and (c), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly:
(1) uses a motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, or
other means of conveyance to transport an individual with the
intent to:
(A) conceal the individual from a peace officer
or special investigator; or
(B) flee from a person the actor knows is a peace
officer or special investigator attempting to lawfully arrest or
detain the actor;
(2) encourages or induces a person to enter or remain
in this country in violation of federal law by concealing,
harboring, or shielding that person from detection; or
(3) assists, guides, or directs two or more
individuals to enter or remain:
(A) in this country in violation of federal law;
or
(B) on agricultural land without the effective
consent of the owner.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
[third] degree[, except that the offense is:
[(1) a felony of the second degree if:
[(A) the actor commits the offense in a manner
that creates a substantial likelihood that the smuggled individual
will suffer serious bodily injury or death;
[(B) the smuggled individual is a child younger
than 18 years of age at the time of the offense;
[(C) the offense was committed with the intent to
obtain a pecuniary benefit;
[(D) during the commission of the offense the
actor, another party to the offense, or an individual assisted,
guided, or directed by the actor knowingly possessed a firearm; or
[(E) the actor commits the offense under
Subsection (a)(1)(B); or
[(2) a felony of the first degree if:
[(A) it is shown on the trial of the offense that,
as a direct result of the commission of the offense, the smuggled
individual became a victim of sexual assault, as defined by Section
22.011, or aggravated sexual assault, as defined by Section 22.021;
or
[(B) the smuggled individual suffered serious
bodily injury or death].
(c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution of an
offense under this section[, other than an offense punishable under
Subsection (b)(1)(A) or (b)(2),] that the actor is related to the
smuggled individual within the second degree of consanguinity or,
at the time of the offense, within the second degree of affinity.
The affirmative defense provided by this subsection is not
available if:
(1) as a direct result of the commission of the
offense, the smuggled individual became a victim of sexual assault,
as defined by Section 22.011, or aggravated sexual assault, as
defined by Section 22.021;
(2) the smuggled individual suffered serious bodily
injury or death; or
(3) the actor committed the offense in a manner that
created a substantial likelihood that the smuggled individual would
suffer serious bodily injury or death.
SECTION 2. Sections 20.06(e) and (f), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(e) Except as provided by Subsections (f) and (g), an
offense under this section is a felony of the first [second] degree
punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice for life or for any term of not more than 99 years or less
than 15 years.
(f) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
degree, punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice for life or for any term of not more than 99 years
or less than 20 years, if:
(1) the conduct constituting an offense under Section
20.05 is conducted in a manner that creates a substantial
likelihood that the smuggled individual will suffer serious bodily
injury or death; or
(2) the smuggled individual is a child younger than 18
years of age at the time of the offense.
SECTION 3. Section 20.07(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
degree [Class A misdemeanor].
SECTION 4. Sections 71.02(a) and (b), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to
establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the
profits of a combination or as a member of a criminal street gang,
the person commits or conspires to commit one or more of the
following:
(1) murder, capital murder, arson, aggravated
robbery, robbery, burglary, theft, aggravated kidnapping,
kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual
assault, continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled
individual, solicitation of a minor, forgery, deadly conduct,
assault punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, burglary of a motor
vehicle, or unauthorized use of a motor vehicle;
(2) any gambling offense punishable as a Class A
misdemeanor;
(3) promotion of prostitution, aggravated promotion
of prostitution, or compelling prostitution;
(4) unlawful manufacture, transportation, repair, or
sale of firearms or prohibited weapons;
(5) unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation, or
distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug, or
unlawful possession of a controlled substance or dangerous drug
through forgery, fraud, misrepresentation, or deception;
(5-a) causing the unlawful delivery, dispensation, or
distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug in
violation of Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code;
(6) any unlawful wholesale promotion or possession of
any obscene material or obscene device with the intent to wholesale
promote the same;
(7) any offense under Subchapter B, Chapter 43,
depicting or involving conduct by or directed toward a child
younger than 18 years of age;
(8) any felony offense under Chapter 32;
(9) any offense under Chapter 36;
(10) any offense under Chapter 34, 35, or 35A;
(11) any offense under Section 37.11(a);
(12) any offense under Chapter 20A;
(13) any offense under Section 37.10;
(14) any offense under Section 38.06, 38.07, 38.09, or
38.11;
(15) any offense under Section 42.10;
(16) any offense under Section 46.06(a)(1) or 46.14;
(17) any offense under Section 20.05, [or] 20.06, or
20.07;
(18) any offense under Section 16.02; or
(19) any offense classified as a felony under the Tax
Code.
(b) Except as provided in Subsections (c) and (d), an
offense under this section is one category higher than the most
serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that was committed, and if
the most serious offense is a Class A misdemeanor, the offense is a
state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony of the first
degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice for:
(1) life without parole, if the most serious offense
is an aggravated sexual assault and if at the time of that offense
the defendant is 18 years of age or older and:
(A) the victim of the offense is younger than six
years of age;
(B) the victim of the offense is younger than 14
years of age and the actor commits the offense in a manner described
by Section 22.021(a)(2)(A); or
(C) the victim of the offense is younger than 17
years of age and suffered serious bodily injury as a result of the
offense;
(2) life or for any term of not more than 99 years or
less than 30 years if the most serious offense is an offense under
Section 20.06 that is punishable under Subsection (g) of that
section; [or]
(3) life or for any term of not more than 99 years or
less than 25 years if the most serious offense is an offense under:
(A) Section 20.05 or 20.07; or
(B) Section 20.06, other than an offense that is
punishable under Subsection (g) of that section; or
(4) life or for any term of not more than 99 years or
less than 15 years if the most serious offense is an offense
punishable as a felony of the first degree, other than an offense
described by Subdivision (1), [or] (2), or (3).
SECTION 5. 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 was committed before that
date.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.