Bill Text: TX SB293 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to penalties for intimidation and harassment of election officials and election interference; creating criminal offenses.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-15 - Referred to State Affairs [SB293 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB293-Introduced.html

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88R1938 SGM-D
By: Johnson S.B. No. 293

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to penalties for intimidation and harassment of election
officials and election interference; creating criminal offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 16, Election Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 280 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 280. INTIMIDATION OF ELECTION OFFICIALS AND ELECTION
INTERFERENCE
Sec. 280.0101. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Election official" has the meaning assigned by
Section 1.005. The term also includes:
(A) a member of a local canvassing authority; or
(B) a county auditor or city secretary charged
with duties related to the administration of an election.
(2) "Family member" means an individual related to
another individual within the second degree of consanguinity or
affinity or an individual residing in the same household as another
individual.
(3) "Personal information" means personal identifying
information or sensitive personal information, as those terms are
defined by Section 521.002, Business & Commerce Code, or a person's
residence address in combination with a photograph or description
of and directions to the residence.
Sec. 280.0102. INTIMIDATION AND HARASSMENT OF ELECTION
OFFICIALS. (a) A person commits an offense if the person, on more
than one occasion and pursuant to the same scheme or course of
conduct that is directed specifically at an election official in
the performance of statutory or other official duties related to
the administration of an election or as a result of action taken or
a decision made in the course of that performance, knowingly
engages in conduct that:
(1) constitutes an offense under Section 42.07, Penal
Code, or the actor knows or reasonably should know the election
official will regard as threatening:
(A) bodily injury or death for the election
official;
(B) bodily injury or death for a family member of
the election official or for an individual with whom the election
official has a dating relationship; or
(C) that an offense will be committed against the
election official's property;
(2) causes the election official, a family member of
the election official, or an individual with whom the election
official has a dating relationship to be placed in fear of bodily
injury or death or in fear that an offense will be committed against
the election official's property, or to feel harassed, annoyed,
alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed, or offended; and
(3) would cause a reasonable person to:
(A) fear bodily injury or death for himself or
herself;
(B) fear bodily injury or death for a family
member of the person or for an individual with whom the person has a
dating relationship;
(C) fear that an offense will be committed
against the person's property; or
(D) feel harassed, annoyed, alarmed, abused,
tormented, embarrassed, or offended.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person directly or
indirectly uses or threatens force, coercion, violence, restraint,
damage, harm, or loss, including loss of employment or financial
reprisal, against another with the intent to influence an election
official in the performance of a duty related to the administration
of an election.
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if
the actor has previously been convicted of an offense under this
section or a law that contains elements that are substantially
similar to the elements of an offense under this section or the laws
of another recognized United States jurisdiction.
Sec. 280.0103. ELECTION INTERFERENCE. A person commits an
offense if the person intentionally interferes with, hinders, or
prevents an election official from performing a statutory or other
official duty related to the administration of an election.
Sec. 280.0104. DISSEMINATION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION. (a)
A person commits an offense if the person, knowingly and without
consent, disseminates personal information about an election
official or a family member of an election official if:
(1) the dissemination poses an imminent and serious
threat to the election official's safety or the safety of a family
member of the election official; and
(2) the person disseminating the information knows or
reasonably should know of any imminent and serious threat.
(b) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
punishable by:
(1) a fine of not more than $1,000;
(2) confinement in the county jail for not more than
six months; or
(3) both the fine and confinement.
Sec. 280.0105. OBSTRUCTING ACCESS OR EGRESS. A person
commits an offense if the person intentionally and physically
obstructs an election official's access to or egress from:
(1) a polling place;
(2) a meeting of a local canvassing authority;
(3) a place where election supplies are located; or
(4) any other place where an election official is
performing statutory or other official duties related to the
administration of an election.
Sec. 280.0106. CONSPIRACY. (a) A person commits a
conspiracy if, with intent:
(1) the person agrees with one or more persons that
they or one or more of them engage in conduct that would violate a
provision of this chapter; and
(2) the person or one or more of the persons with whom
the person has an agreement described by Subdivision (1) perform an
overt act in pursuance of the agreement.
(b) An agreement constituting a conspiracy may be inferred
from acts of the parties.
(c) It is no defense to prosecution for conspiracy that:
(1) one or more of the coconspirators are not
responsible for the violation of this chapter;
(2) one or more of the coconspirators have been
acquitted, so long as two or more coconspirators have not been
acquitted;
(3) one or more of the coconspirators have not been
prosecuted or convicted, have been convicted of a different
offense, or are immune from prosecution;
(4) the actor belongs to a class of persons that is
legally incapable of committing a violation of this chapter in an
individual capacity; or
(5) the violation of this chapter was actually
committed.
(d) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.
Sec. 280.0107. PENALTIES. Except as otherwise provided, an
offense under this chapter is a felony of the third degree.
SECTION 2. Section 552.117(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Information is excepted from the requirements of
Section 552.021 if it is information that relates to the home
address, home telephone number, emergency contact information, or
social security number of the following person or that reveals
whether the person has family members:
(1) a current or former official or employee of a
governmental body, except as otherwise provided by Section 552.024;
(2) a current or honorably retired peace officer as
defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or a current or
honorably retired security officer commissioned under Section
51.212, Education Code, regardless of whether the officer complies
with Section 552.024 or 552.1175, as applicable;
(3) a current or former employee of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice or of the predecessor in function of
the department or any division of the department, regardless of
whether the current or former employee complies with Section
552.1175;
(4) a peace officer as defined by Article 2.12, Code of
Criminal Procedure, or other law, a reserve law enforcement
officer, a commissioned deputy game warden, or a corrections
officer in a municipal, county, or state penal institution in this
state who was killed in the line of duty, regardless of whether the
deceased complied with Section 552.024 or 552.1175;
(5) a commissioned security officer as defined by
Section 1702.002, Occupations Code, regardless of whether the
officer complies with Section 552.024 or 552.1175, as applicable;
(6) an officer or employee of a community supervision
and corrections department established under Chapter 76 who
performs a duty described by Section 76.004(b), regardless of
whether the officer or employee complies with Section 552.024 or
552.1175;
(7) a current or former employee of the office of the
attorney general who is or was assigned to a division of that office
the duties of which involve law enforcement, regardless of whether
the current or former employee complies with Section 552.024 or
552.1175;
(8) a current or former employee of the Texas Juvenile
Justice Department or of the predecessors in function of the
department, regardless of whether the current or former employee
complies with Section 552.024 or 552.1175;
(9) a current or former juvenile probation or
supervision officer certified by the Texas Juvenile Justice
Department, or the predecessors in function of the department,
under Title 12, Human Resources Code, regardless of whether the
current or former officer complies with Section 552.024 or
552.1175;
(10) a current or former employee of a juvenile
justice program or facility, as those terms are defined by Section
261.405, Family Code, regardless of whether the current or former
employee complies with Section 552.024 or 552.1175;
(11) a current or former member of the United States
Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps, an auxiliary
service of one of those branches of the armed forces, or the Texas
military forces, as that term is defined by Section 437.001;
(12) a current or former district attorney, criminal
district attorney, or county or municipal attorney whose
jurisdiction includes any criminal law or child protective services
matters, regardless of whether the current or former attorney
complies with Section 552.024 or 552.1175;
(13) a current or former employee of a district
attorney, criminal district attorney, or county or municipal
attorney whose jurisdiction includes any criminal law or child
protective services matters, regardless of whether the current or
former employee complies with Section 552.024 or 552.1175;
(14) a current or former employee of the Texas Civil
Commitment Office or of the predecessor in function of the office or
a division of the office, regardless of whether the current or
former employee complies with Section 552.024 or 552.1175;
(15) a current or former federal judge or state judge,
as those terms are defined by Section 1.005, Election Code, a
federal bankruptcy judge, a marshal of the United States Marshals
Service, a United States attorney, or a family member of a current
or former federal judge, including a federal bankruptcy judge, a
marshal of the United States Marshals Service, a United States
attorney, or a state judge;
(16) a current or former child protective services
caseworker, adult protective services caseworker, or investigator
for the Department of Family and Protective Services, regardless of
whether the caseworker or investigator complies with Section
552.024 or 552.1175, or a current or former employee of a department
contractor performing child protective services caseworker, adult
protective services caseworker, or investigator functions for the
contractor on behalf of the department;
(17) an elected public officer, regardless of whether
the officer complies with Section 552.024 or 552.1175;
(18) a current or former United States attorney,
assistant United States attorney, federal public defender, deputy
federal public defender, or assistant federal public defender and
the spouse or child of the current or former attorney or public
defender, regardless of whether the person complies with Section
552.024 or 552.1175; [or]
(19) a firefighter or volunteer firefighter or
emergency medical services personnel as defined by Section 773.003,
Health and Safety Code, regardless of whether the firefighter or
volunteer firefighter or emergency medical services personnel
comply with Section 552.024 or 552.1175, as applicable; or
(20) a current election official, as defined by
Section 280.0101, Election Code.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.