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.