Bill Text: TX HB3599 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Relating to creating the criminal offenses of providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, engaging in terroristic activities, and threatened terroristic violence.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-22 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [HB3599 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB3599-Introduced.html

---

87R9956 ADM-F
By: Leach H.B. No. 3599

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to creating the criminal offenses of providing material
support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, engaging
in terroristic activities, and threatened terroristic violence.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
ARTICLE 1. TERRORISM
SECTION 1.01. The heading to Title 11, Penal Code, is
amended to read as follows:
TITLE 11. ORGANIZED CRIME AND TERRORISM
SECTION 1.02. Title 11, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 72 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 72. TERRORISM
Sec. 72.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Foreign terrorist organization" means an
organization designated as a foreign terrorist organization under 8
U.S.C. Section 1189.
(2) "Material support or resources" means any
property, service, or personnel.
(3) "Property" means:
(A) real property;
(B) tangible or intangible personal property,
including anything severed from land; or
(C) a document, including money, that represents
or embodies anything of value.
(4) "Service" includes:
(A) labor and professional service;
(B) telecommunication, public utility, or
transportation service;
(C) lodging, restaurant service, and
entertainment; and
(D) the supply of a motor vehicle or other
property for use.
Sec. 72.02. PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT OR RESOURCES TO
FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. (a) A person commits an offense if
the person knowingly provides material support or resources to a
foreign terrorist organization.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
degree.
Sec. 72.03. ENGAGING IN TERRORISTIC ACTIVITIES. (a) A
person commits an offense if the person, with intent to support or
participate in the activities of a foreign terrorist organization,
commits or conspires to commit one or more of the following:
(1) kidnapping;
(2) robbery;
(3) arson;
(4) trafficking of persons;
(5) any felony offense under Chapter 31 or 32;
(6) money laundering;
(7) any unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation,
or distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug that is
punishable as a felony;
(8) tampering with a witness;
(9) tampering with or fabricating physical evidence;
(10) tampering with a governmental record; or
(11) hindering apprehension or prosecution.
(b) Except as provided by 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.
(c) If the most serious offense listed in Subsection (a)
that was committed is a felony of the first degree, 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 15 years.
(d) If the most serious offense listed in Subsection (a)
that was committed is described by Subsection (a)(10) or (11), an
offense under this section is a felony of the third degree.
Sec. 72.04. THREATENED TERRORISTIC VIOLENCE. (a) A person
commits an offense if the person threatens to commit any offense
involving violence to any person or property with intent to:
(1) cause impairment or interruption of public
communications, public transportation, or public water, gas, or
power supply or other public service;
(2) place the public or a substantial group of the
public in fear of serious bodily injury;
(3) influence the conduct or activities of a branch or
agency of the federal government, the state, or a political
subdivision of the state; or
(4) prevent access to or use of a building owned or
controlled by the federal government, the state, or a political
subdivision of the state.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
degree.
Sec. 72.05. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAW. If conduct that
constitutes an offense under this chapter also constitutes an
offense under other law, the actor may be prosecuted under the
applicable section of this chapter, the other law, or both.
ARTICLE 2. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS
SECTION 2.01. Section 125.061(3), Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
(3) "Gang activity" means the following types of
conduct:
(A) organized criminal activity as described by
Section 71.02, Penal Code;
(B) terroristic threat as described by Section
22.07, Penal Code, or threatened terroristic violence as described
by Section 72.04, Penal Code;
(C) coercing, soliciting, or inducing gang
membership as described by Section 71.022(a) or (a-1), Penal Code;
(D) criminal trespass as described by Section
30.05, Penal Code;
(E) disorderly conduct as described by Section
42.01, Penal Code;
(F) criminal mischief as described by Section
28.03, Penal Code, that causes a pecuniary loss of $500 or more;
(G) a graffiti offense in violation of Section
28.08, Penal Code;
(H) a weapons offense in violation of Chapter 46,
Penal Code; or
(I) unlawful possession of a substance or other
item in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 2.02. Article 2.30(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) This article applies only to the following offenses:
(1) assault under Section 22.01, Penal Code;
(2) aggravated assault under Section 22.02, Penal
Code;
(3) sexual assault under Section 22.011, Penal Code;
(4) aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021,
Penal Code; [and]
(5) terroristic threat under Section 22.07, Penal
Code; and
(6) threatened terroristic violence under Section
72.04, Penal Code.
SECTION 2.03. Section 37.006(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A student shall be removed from class and placed in a
disciplinary alternative education program as provided by Section
37.008 if the student:
(1) engages in conduct involving a public school that
contains the elements of the offense of false alarm or report under
Section 42.06, Penal Code, [or] terroristic threat under Section
22.07, Penal Code, or threatened terroristic violence under Section
72.04, Penal Code; or
(2) commits the following on or within 300 feet of
school property, as measured from any point on the school's real
property boundary line, or while attending a school-sponsored or
school-related activity on or off of school property:
(A) engages in conduct punishable as a felony;
(B) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code;
(C) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
or possesses or uses or is under the influence of:
(i) marihuana or a controlled substance, as
defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
Section 801 et seq.; or
(ii) a dangerous drug, as defined by
Chapter 483, Health and Safety Code;
(D) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
an alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section 1.04, Alcoholic
Beverage Code, commits a serious act or offense while under the
influence of alcohol, or possesses, uses, or is under the influence
of an alcoholic beverage;
(E) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of an offense relating to an abusable volatile chemical under
Sections 485.031 through 485.034, Health and Safety Code;
(F) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal Code,
or indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal Code; or
(G) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of harassment under Section 42.07(a)(1), (2), (3),
or (7), Penal Code, against an employee of the school district.
SECTION 2.04. Section 37.007(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) A student may be expelled if the student:
(1) engages in conduct involving a public school that
contains the elements of the offense of false alarm or report under
Section 42.06, Penal Code, [or] terroristic threat under Section
22.07, Penal Code, or threatened terroristic violence under Section
72.04, Penal Code;
(2) while on or within 300 feet of school property, as
measured from any point on the school's real property boundary
line, or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related
activity on or off of school property:
(A) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
or possesses, uses, or is under the influence of any amount of:
(i) marihuana or a controlled substance, as
defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
Section 801 et seq.;
(ii) a dangerous drug, as defined by
Chapter 483, Health and Safety Code; or
(iii) an alcoholic beverage, as defined by
Section 1.04, Alcoholic Beverage Code;
(B) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of an offense relating to an abusable volatile chemical under
Sections 485.031 through 485.034, Health and Safety Code;
(C) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code, against a
school district employee or a volunteer as defined by Section
22.053; or
(D) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of deadly conduct under Section 22.05, Penal Code;
(3) subject to Subsection (d), while within 300 feet
of school property, as measured from any point on the school's real
property boundary line:
(A) engages in conduct specified by Subsection
(a); or
(B) possesses a firearm, as defined by 18 U.S.C.
Section 921;
(4) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
any offense listed in Subsection (a)(2)(A) or (C) or the offense of
aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code, against another
student, without regard to whether the conduct occurs on or off of
school property or while attending a school-sponsored or
school-related activity on or off of school property; or
(5) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
the offense of breach of computer security under Section 33.02,
Penal Code, if:
(A) the conduct involves accessing a computer,
computer network, or computer system owned by or operated on behalf
of a school district; and
(B) the student knowingly:
(i) alters, damages, or deletes school
district property or information; or
(ii) commits a breach of any other
computer, computer network, or computer system.
SECTION 2.05. Section 37.011(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) If a student admitted into the public schools of a
school district under Section 25.001(b) is expelled from school for
conduct for which expulsion is required under Section 37.007(a),
(d), or (e), [or] for conduct that contains the elements of the
offense of terroristic threat as described by Section 22.07(c-1) or
[,] (d), [or (e),] Penal Code, or for conduct that contains the
elements of the offense of threatened terroristic violence as
described by Section 72.04, Penal Code, the juvenile court, the
juvenile board, or the juvenile board's designee, as appropriate,
shall:
(1) if the student is placed on probation under
Section 54.04, Family Code, order the student to attend the
juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in
which the student resides from the date of disposition as a
condition of probation, unless the child is placed in a
post-adjudication treatment facility;
(2) if the student is placed on deferred prosecution
under Section 53.03, Family Code, by the court, prosecutor, or
probation department, require the student to immediately attend the
juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in
which the student resides for a period not to exceed six months as a
condition of the deferred prosecution;
(3) in determining the conditions of the deferred
prosecution or court-ordered probation, consider the length of the
school district's expulsion order for the student; and
(4) provide timely educational services to the student
in the juvenile justice alternative education program in the county
in which the student resides, regardless of the student's age or
whether the juvenile court has jurisdiction over the student.
SECTION 2.06. Section 37.015(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The principal of a public or private primary or
secondary school, or a person designated by the principal under
Subsection (d), shall notify any school district police department
and the police department of the municipality in which the school is
located or, if the school is not in a municipality, the sheriff of
the county in which the school is located if the principal has
reasonable grounds to believe that any of the following activities
occur in school, on school property, or at a school-sponsored or
school-related activity on or off school property, whether or not
the activity is investigated by school security officers:
(1) conduct that may constitute an offense listed
under Section 508.149, Government Code;
(2) deadly conduct under Section 22.05, Penal Code;
(3) a terroristic threat under Section 22.07, Penal
Code, or threatened terroristic violence under Section 72.04, Penal
Code;
(4) the use, sale, or possession of a controlled
substance, drug paraphernalia, or marihuana under Chapter 481,
Health and Safety Code;
(5) the possession of any of the weapons or devices
listed under Sections 46.01(1)-(14) or Section 46.01(16), Penal
Code;
(6) conduct that may constitute a criminal offense
under Section 71.02, Penal Code; or
(7) conduct that may constitute a criminal offense for
which a student may be expelled under Section 37.007(a), (d), or
(e).
SECTION 2.07. Section 37.113, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.113. NOTIFICATION REGARDING BOMB THREAT, [OR]
TERRORISTIC THREAT, OR THREATENED TERRORISTIC VIOLENCE. A school
district that receives a bomb threat, [or] terroristic threat, or
threat of terroristic violence relating to a campus or other
district facility at which students are present shall provide
notification of the threat as soon as possible to the parent or
guardian of or other person standing in parental relation to each
student who is assigned to the campus or who regularly uses the
facility, as applicable.
SECTION 2.08. Section 1104.353(b), Estates Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) It is presumed to be not in the best interests of a ward
or incapacitated person to appoint as guardian of the ward or
incapacitated person a person who has been finally convicted of:
(1) any sexual offense, including sexual assault,
aggravated sexual assault, and prohibited sexual conduct;
(2) aggravated assault;
(3) injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled
individual;
(4) abandoning or endangering a child;
(5) terroristic threat or threatened terroristic
violence; or
(6) continuous violence against the family of the ward
or incapacitated person.
SECTION 2.09. Section 250.006(a), Health and Safety Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) A person for whom the facility or the individual
employer is entitled to obtain criminal history record information
may not be employed in a facility or by an individual employer if
the person has been convicted of an offense listed in this
subsection:
(1) an offense under Chapter 19, Penal Code (criminal
homicide);
(2) an offense under Chapter 20, Penal Code
(kidnapping, unlawful restraint, and smuggling of persons);
(3) an offense under Section 21.02, Penal Code
(continuous sexual abuse of young child or children), or Section
21.11, Penal Code (indecency with a child);
(4) an offense under Section 22.011, Penal Code
(sexual assault);
(5) an offense under Section 22.02, Penal Code
(aggravated assault);
(6) an offense under Section 22.04, Penal Code (injury
to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual);
(7) an offense under Section 22.041, Penal Code
(abandoning or endangering child);
(8) an offense under Section 22.08, Penal Code (aiding
suicide);
(9) an offense under Section 25.031, Penal Code
(agreement to abduct from custody);
(10) an offense under Section 25.08, Penal Code (sale
or purchase of child);
(11) an offense under Section 28.02, Penal Code
(arson);
(12) an offense under Section 29.02, Penal Code
(robbery);
(13) an offense under Section 29.03, Penal Code
(aggravated robbery);
(14) an offense under Section 21.08, Penal Code
(indecent exposure);
(15) an offense under Section 21.12, Penal Code
(improper relationship between educator and student);
(16) an offense under Section 21.15, Penal Code
(invasive visual recording);
(17) an offense under Section 22.05, Penal Code
(deadly conduct);
(18) an offense under Section 22.021, Penal Code
(aggravated sexual assault);
(19) an offense under Section 22.07, Penal Code
(terroristic threat), or under Section 72.04, Penal Code
(threatened terroristic violence);
(20) an offense under Section 32.53, Penal Code
(exploitation of child, elderly individual, or disabled
individual);
(21) an offense under Section 33.021, Penal Code
(online solicitation of a minor);
(22) an offense under Section 34.02, Penal Code (money
laundering);
(23) an offense under Section 35A.02, Penal Code
(health care fraud);
(24) an offense under Section 36.06, Penal Code
(obstruction or retaliation);
(25) an offense under Section 42.09, Penal Code
(cruelty to livestock animals), or under Section 42.092, Penal Code
(cruelty to nonlivestock animals); or
(26) a conviction under the laws of another state,
federal law, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice for an offense
containing elements that are substantially similar to the elements
of an offense listed by this subsection.
SECTION 2.10. Section 19.03(a), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person commits murder
as defined under Section 19.02(b)(1) and:
(1) the person murders a peace officer or fireman who
is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the
person knows is a peace officer or fireman;
(2) the person intentionally commits the murder in the
course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary,
robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or
retaliation, threatened terroristic violence, or terroristic
threat under Section 22.07(a)(1) or[,] (3)[, (4), (5), or (6)];
(3) the person commits the murder for remuneration or
the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder
for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;
(4) the person commits the murder while escaping or
attempting to escape from a penal institution;
(5) the person, while incarcerated in a penal
institution, murders another:
(A) who is employed in the operation of the penal
institution; or
(B) with the intent to establish, maintain, or
participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination;
(6) the person:
(A) while incarcerated for an offense under this
section or Section 19.02, murders another; or
(B) while serving a sentence of life imprisonment
or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section 20.04, 22.021, or
29.03, murders another;
(7) the person murders more than one person:
(A) during the same criminal transaction; or
(B) during different criminal transactions but
the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of
conduct;
(8) the person murders an individual under 10 years of
age;
(9) the person murders an individual 10 years of age or
older but younger than 15 years of age; or
(10) the person murders another person in retaliation
for or on account of the service or status of the other person as a
judge or justice of the supreme court, the court of criminal
appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, a criminal district
court, a constitutional county court, a statutory county court, a
justice court, or a municipal court.
SECTION 2.11. Section 22.07(a), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person [he] threatens
to commit any offense involving violence to any person or property
with intent to:
(1) cause a reaction of any type to the [his] threat by
an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies;
(2) place any person in fear of imminent serious
bodily injury; or
(3) prevent or interrupt the occupation or use of a
building, room, place of assembly, place to which the public has
access, place of employment or occupation, aircraft, automobile, or
other form of conveyance, or other public place[;
[(4) cause impairment or interruption of public
communications, public transportation, public water, gas, or power
supply or other public service;
[(5) place the public or a substantial group of the
public in fear of serious bodily injury; or
[(6) influence the conduct or activities of a branch
or agency of the federal government, the state, or a political
subdivision of the state].
SECTION 2.12. Section 22.07(e), Penal Code, is repealed.
ARTICLE 3. TRANSITION AND EFFECTIVE DATE
SECTION 3.01. 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 3.02. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.