Bill Text: TX HB141 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain criminal offenses committed in the course of or for the purpose of avoiding certain law enforcement checkpoints or evading an arrest or detention; increasing criminal penalties.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 51-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-10-04 - Filed [HB141 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB141-Introduced.html
  87S30423 JRR-D
 
  By: Spiller H.B. No. 141
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain criminal
  offenses committed in the course of or for the purpose of avoiding
  certain law enforcement checkpoints or evading an arrest or
  detention; increasing criminal penalties.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 20.05, Penal Code, is amended by adding
  Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
         (b-1)  For purposes of Subsection (a)(1)(A), the actor is
  presumed to have acted knowingly and with the intent to conceal the
  individual being transported from a peace officer or special
  investigator if in the course of committing the offense the actor
  intentionally avoided a federal or state law enforcement
  checkpoint.
         SECTION 2.  Section 22.01(b-1), Penal Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b-1)  Notwithstanding Subsection (b), an offense under
  Subsection (a)(1) is a felony of the third degree if:
               (1)  it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
  actor committed the offense in the course of or for the purpose of
  intentionally avoiding a federal or state law enforcement
  checkpoint; or
               (2)  the offense is committed:
                     (A) [(1)]  while the actor is committed to a civil
  commitment facility; and
                     (B) [(2)]  against:
                           (i) [(A)]  an officer or employee of the
  Texas Civil Commitment Office:
                                 (a) [(i)]  while the officer or
  employee is lawfully discharging an official duty at a civil
  commitment facility; or
                                 (b) [(ii)]  in retaliation for or on
  account of an exercise of official power or performance of an
  official duty by the officer or employee; or
                           (ii) [(B)]  a person who contracts with the
  state to perform a service in a civil commitment facility or an
  employee of that person:
                                 (a) [(i)]  while the person or
  employee is engaged in performing a service within the scope of the
  contract, if the actor knows the person or employee is authorized by
  the state to provide the service; or
                                 (b) [(ii)]  in retaliation for or on
  account of the person's or employee's performance of a service
  within the scope of the contract.
         SECTION 3.  Chapter 28, Penal Code, is amended by adding
  Section 28.10 to read as follows:
         Sec. 28.10.  ENHANCED PENALTY FOR CERTAIN MISDEMEANORS OR
  STATE JAIL FELONIES. The punishment for an offense under this
  chapter that is punishable as a misdemeanor or a state jail felony
  is increased to the punishment for a felony of the third degree if
  it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor committed the
  offense in the course of or for the purpose of:
               (1)  intentionally avoiding a federal or state law
  enforcement checkpoint; or
               (2)  engaging in conduct constituting an offense under
  Section 38.04.
         SECTION 4.  Section 30.02, Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-2) to read as
  follows:
         (c)  Except as provided in Subsection (c-1), (c-2), or (d),
  an offense under this section is a:
               (1)  state jail felony if committed in a building other
  than a habitation; or
               (2)  felony of the second degree if committed in a
  habitation.
         (c-2)  An offense under this section is a felony of the third
  degree if:
               (1)  the premises are a building other than a
  habitation; and
               (2)  it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
  actor committed the offense in the course of or for the purpose of
  intentionally avoiding a federal or state law enforcement
  checkpoint.
         SECTION 5.  Section 30.04(d), Penal Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (d)  An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor,
  except that:
               (1)  the offense is a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum
  term of confinement of six months if it is shown on the trial of the
  offense that the defendant has been previously convicted of an
  offense under this section;
               (2)  the offense is a state jail felony if:
                     (A)  it is shown on the trial of the offense that
  the defendant has been previously convicted two or more times of an
  offense under this section; or
                     (B)  the vehicle or part of the vehicle broken
  into or entered is a rail car; and
               (3)  the offense is a felony of the third degree if:
                     (A)  the vehicle broken into or entered is owned
  or operated by a wholesale distributor of prescription drugs[;] and
                     [(B)]  the actor breaks into or enters that
  vehicle with the intent to commit theft of a controlled substance;
  or
                     (B)  it is shown on the trial of the offense that
  the actor committed the offense in the course of or for the purpose
  of intentionally avoiding a federal or state law enforcement
  checkpoint.
         SECTION 6.  Section 30.05(d), Penal Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (d)  Subject to Subsection (d-3), an offense under this
  section is:
               (1)  a Class B misdemeanor, except as provided by
  Subdivisions (2), [and] (3), and (4);
               (2)  a Class C misdemeanor, except as provided by
  Subdivisions [Subdivision] (3) and (4), if the offense is
  committed:
                     (A)  on agricultural land and within 100 feet of
  the boundary of the land; or
                     (B)  on residential land and within 100 feet of a
  protected freshwater area; [and]
               (3)  a Class A misdemeanor, except as provided by
  Subdivision (4), if:
                     (A)  the offense is committed:
                           (i)  in a habitation or a shelter center;
                           (ii)  on a Superfund site; or
                           (iii)  on or in a critical infrastructure
  facility;
                     (B)  the offense is committed on or in property of
  an institution of higher education and it is shown on the trial of
  the offense that the person has previously been convicted of:
                           (i)  an offense under this section relating
  to entering or remaining on or in property of an institution of
  higher education; or
                           (ii)  an offense under Section 51.204(b)(1),
  Education Code, relating to trespassing on the grounds of an
  institution of higher education;
                     (C)  the person carries a deadly weapon during the
  commission of the offense; or
                     (D)  the offense is committed on the property of
  or within a general residential operation operating as a
  residential treatment center; and
               (4)  a felony of the third degree if it is shown on the
  trial of the offense that the defendant committed the offense in the
  course of or for the purpose of intentionally avoiding a federal or
  state law enforcement checkpoint.
         SECTION 7.  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 8.  This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
  last day of the legislative session.
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