| |
| |
|
|
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 July 1, 2023, if it |
|
|
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each |
|
|
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. |
|
|
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for effect on that |
|
|
date, this Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |