By: Perry	S.B. No. 1575
	(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2017; March 21, 2017, read
	first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
	March 29, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 9,
	Nays 0; March 29, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote

	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.
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