Bill Text: TX HB381 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to the punishment for the offense of burglary of a vehicle; increasing a criminal penalty.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-05-07 - Referred to Criminal Justice [HB381 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB381-Engrossed.html

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84R23274 KJE-D
By: Burkett H.B. No. 381

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the punishment for the offense of burglary of a vehicle;
increasing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 30.04, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsections (d-2) and
(d-3) to read as follows:
(d) An offense under this section is a:
(1) Class A misdemeanor if the amount of pecuniary
loss to tangible personal property is less than $1,500; [, 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; and]
(2) [the offense is a] state jail felony if:
(A) the amount of pecuniary loss to tangible
personal property is $1,500 or more but less than $20,000;
(B) the amount of pecuniary loss to tangible
personal property is less than $1,500 and 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
(C) the amount of pecuniary loss to tangible
personal property is less than $1,500 and [(B)] the vehicle or
part of the vehicle broken into or entered is a rail car;
(3) felony of the third degree if the amount of
pecuniary loss to tangible personal property is $20,000 or more but
less than $100,000;
(4) felony of the second degree if the amount of
pecuniary loss to tangible personal property is $100,000 or more
but less than $200,000; or
(5) felony of the first degree if the amount of
pecuniary loss to tangible personal property is $200,000 or more.
(d-2) For the purposes of Subsection (d), the amount of
pecuniary loss to tangible personal property is the sum of:
(1) the cost of repairing or restoring the vehicle, if
the defendant damaged the vehicle in the course of committing the
offense; and
(2) the fair market value of any tangible personal
property the defendant stole from the vehicle, if the defendant
committed theft in the course of committing the offense.
(d-3) If the defendant, pursuant to one scheme or continuing
course of conduct, commits three or more offenses under this
section in a 24-hour period, the conduct may be considered as one
offense and the amounts of pecuniary loss aggregated in determining
the grade of offense.
(e) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that
the defendant [actor] entered a rail car or any part of a rail car
and was at that time an employee or a representative of employees
exercising a right under the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. Section
151 et seq.).
SECTION 2. Sections 3(h) and 4(f), Article 42.12, Code of
Criminal Procedure, are repealed.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies 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 when 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, 2015.