Bill Text: TX SB371 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain assaults committed against employees of primary and secondary schools.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-07 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB371 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-SB371-Introduced.html
  86R2628 MEW-D
 
  By: Campbell S.B. No. 371
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain assaults
  committed against employees of primary and secondary schools.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 22.01, Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsections (d-1) and
  (d-2) to read as follows:
         (b)  An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A
  misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree
  if the offense is committed against:
               (1)  a person the actor knows is a public servant while
  the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty, or in
  retaliation or on account of an exercise of official power or
  performance of an official duty as a public servant;
               (2)  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:
                     (A)  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, 21.11, or 25.11
  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; or
                     (B)  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;
               (3)  a person who contracts with government to perform
  a service in a facility as defined by Section 1.07(a)(14), Penal
  Code, or Section 51.02(13) or (14), Family Code, or an employee of
  that person:
                     (A)  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 government to provide
  the service; or
                     (B)  in retaliation for or on account of the
  person's or employee's performance of a service within the scope of
  the contract;
               (4)  a person the actor knows is a security officer
  while the officer is performing a duty as a security officer;
               (5)  a person the actor knows is emergency services
  personnel while the person is providing emergency services; [or]
               (6)  a pregnant individual to force the individual to
  have an abortion; or
               (7)  an employee of a private or public primary or
  secondary school, including an open-enrollment charter school:
                     (A)  while the employee is engaged in performing
  duties within the scope of employment; or
                     (B)  in retaliation for or on account of the
  employee's performance of a duty within the scope of employment.
         (d)  For purposes of Subsections (b)(1), (4), and (5)
  [Subsection (b)], the actor is presumed to have known the person
  assaulted was a public servant, a security officer, or emergency
  services personnel if the person was wearing a distinctive uniform
  or badge indicating the person's employment as a public servant or
  status as a security officer or emergency services personnel.  For
  purposes of Subsection (b)(7), the actor is presumed to have known
  that the person assaulted was a school employee if the actor was a
  student enrolled in, or the parent or guardian of a student enrolled
  in, the school that employed the person assaulted.
         (d-1)  The increase in punishment provided by Subsection
  (b)(7) applies regardless of whether the offense occurred:
               (1)  off school premises; or
               (2)  at a time at which school was not in session.
         (d-2)  The increase in punishment provided by Subsection
  (b)(7) does not apply if the actor is a student enrolled in a
  special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, Education
  Code.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies 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 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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