Bill Text: TX SB1575 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to the prosecution of the offenses of assault and harassment by persons committed to certain facilities; increasing a criminal penalty.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-05-15 - Withdrawn from schedule [SB1575 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SB1575-Introduced.html

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85R3060 KJE-D
By: Perry S.B. No. 1575

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of the offenses of assault and
harassment by persons committed to certain facilities; increasing a
criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1.07, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subdivision (8-a) to read as follows:
(8-a) "Civil commitment facility" means a facility
owned, leased, or operated by the state, or by a vendor under
contract with the state, that houses only persons who have been
civilly committed as sexually violent predators under Chapter 841,
Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 2. Section 22.01, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b-1) and (f) and adding Subsection (b-2) to
read as follows:
(b-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), an offense under
Subsection (a)(1) is a felony of the third degree if the offense is
committed:
(1) while the actor is committed to a civil commitment
facility; and
(2) against:
(A) an officer or employee of the Texas Civil
Commitment Office:
(i) while the officer or employee is
lawfully discharging an official duty at a civil commitment
facility; or
(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
(B) a person who contracts with the state to
perform a service in a civil commitment facility or an employee of
that person:
(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
(ii) in retaliation for or on account of the
person's or employee's performance of a service within the scope of
the contract.
(b-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (b)(2), an offense under
Subsection (a)(1) is a felony of the second degree if:
(1) the offense is committed against a person whose
relationship to or association with the defendant is described by
Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code;
(2) it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
defendant has been previously convicted of an offense under this
chapter, Chapter 19, or Section 20.03, 20.04, or 21.11 against a
person whose relationship to or association with the defendant is
described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code;
and
(3) the offense is committed by intentionally,
knowingly, or recklessly impeding the normal breathing or
circulation of the blood of the person by applying pressure to the
person's throat or neck or by blocking the person's nose or mouth.
(f) For the purposes of Subsections (b)(2)(A) and (b-2)(2)
[(b-1)(2)]:
(1) a defendant has been previously convicted of an
offense listed in those subsections committed against a person
whose relationship to or association with the defendant is
described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code, if
the defendant was adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea
of guilty or nolo contendere in return for a grant of deferred
adjudication, regardless of whether the sentence for the offense
was ever imposed or whether the sentence was probated and the
defendant was subsequently discharged from community supervision;
and
(2) a conviction under the laws of another state for an
offense containing elements that are substantially similar to the
elements of an offense listed in those subsections is a conviction
of the offense listed.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 22.11, Penal Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 22.11. HARASSMENT BY PERSONS IN CERTAIN [CORRECTIONAL]
FACILITIES; HARASSMENT OF PUBLIC SERVANT.
SECTION 4. Sections 22.11(a) and (e), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to
assault, harass, or alarm, the person:
(1) while imprisoned or confined in a correctional or
detention facility, causes another person to contact the blood,
seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, saliva, urine, or feces of the actor,
any other person, or an animal; [or]
(2) while committed to a civil commitment facility,
causes:
(A) an officer or employee of the Texas Civil
Commitment Office to contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal
fluid, saliva, urine, or feces of the actor, any other person, or an
animal:
(i) while the officer or employee is
lawfully discharging an official duty at a civil commitment
facility; or
(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
(B) a person who contracts with the state to
perform a service in the facility or an employee of that person to
contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, saliva, urine, or
feces of the actor, any other person, or an animal:
(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
(ii) in retaliation for or on account of the
person's or employee's performance of a service within the scope of
the contract; or
(3) causes another person the actor knows to be a
public servant to contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid,
saliva, urine, or feces of the actor, any other person, or an animal
while the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty
or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of the public
servant's official power or performance of an official duty.
(e) For purposes of Subsection (a)(3) [(a)(2)], the actor is
presumed to have known the person was a public servant if the person
was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person's
employment as a public servant.
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 occurred before that date.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.