Bill Text: TX SB465 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to certain criminal conduct involving a catalytic converter; creating a criminal offense; increasing criminal penalties.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-21 - Left pending in committee [SB465 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB465-Introduced.html

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88R3306 JRR-F
By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 465

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain criminal conduct involving a catalytic
converter; creating a criminal offense; increasing criminal
penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.03(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsections (f) and (h), an
offense under this section is:
(1) a Class C misdemeanor if:
(A) the amount of pecuniary loss is less than
$100; or
(B) except as provided in Subdivision (3)(A) or
(3)(B), it causes substantial inconvenience to others;
(2) a Class B misdemeanor if the amount of pecuniary
loss is $100 or more but less than $750;
(3) a Class A misdemeanor if:
(A) the amount of pecuniary loss is $750 or more
but less than $2,500; or
(B) the actor causes in whole or in part
impairment or interruption of any public water supply, or causes to
be diverted in whole, in part, or in any manner, including
installation or removal of any device for any such purpose, any
public water supply, regardless of the amount of the pecuniary
loss;
(4) a state jail felony if the amount of pecuniary loss
is:
(A) $2,500 or more but less than $30,000;
(B) less than $2,500, if the property damaged or
destroyed is a habitation and if the damage or destruction is caused
by a firearm or explosive weapon;
(C) less than $2,500, if the property was a fence
used for the production or containment of:
(i) cattle, bison, horses, sheep, swine,
goats, exotic livestock, or exotic poultry; or
(ii) game animals as that term is defined by
Section 63.001, Parks and Wildlife Code; [or]
(D) less than $30,000 and the actor:
(i) causes wholly or partly impairment or
interruption of property used for flood control purposes or a dam or
of public communications, public transportation, public gas or
power supply, or other public service; or
(ii) causes to be diverted wholly, partly,
or in any manner, including installation or removal of any device
for any such purpose, any public communications or public gas or
power supply; or
(E) less than $30,000, if the property is a motor
vehicle that is damaged, destroyed, or tampered with during the
removal or attempted removal of a catalytic converter from the
motor vehicle;
(5) a felony of the third degree if:
(A) the amount of the pecuniary loss is $30,000
or more but less than $150,000;
(B) the actor, by discharging a firearm or other
weapon or by any other means, causes the death of one or more head of
cattle or bison or one or more horses; or
(C) the actor causes wholly or partly impairment
or interruption of access to an automated teller machine,
regardless of the amount of the pecuniary loss;
(6) a felony of the second degree if the amount of
pecuniary loss is $150,000 or more but less than $300,000; or
(7) a felony of the first degree if the amount of
pecuniary loss is $300,000 or more.
SECTION 2. Section 31.03(e), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f), an offense under
this section is:
(1) a Class C misdemeanor if the value of the property
stolen is less than $100;
(2) a Class B misdemeanor if:
(A) the value of the property stolen is $100 or
more but less than $750;
(B) the value of the property stolen is less than
$100 and the defendant has previously been convicted of any grade of
theft; or
(C) the property stolen is a driver's license,
commercial driver's license, or personal identification
certificate issued by this state or another state;
(3) a Class A misdemeanor if the value of the property
stolen is $750 or more but less than $2,500;
(4) a state jail felony if:
(A) the value of the property stolen is $2,500 or
more but less than $30,000, or the property is less than 10 head of
sheep, swine, or goats or any part thereof under the value of
$30,000;
(B) regardless of value, the property is stolen
from the person of another or from a human corpse or grave,
including property that is a military grave marker;
(C) the property stolen is a firearm, as defined
by Section 46.01;
(D) the value of the property stolen is less than
$2,500 and the defendant has been previously convicted two or more
times of any grade of theft;
(E) the property stolen is an official ballot or
official carrier envelope for an election; [or]
(F) the value of the property stolen is less than
$20,000 and the property stolen is:
(i) aluminum;
(ii) bronze;
(iii) copper; or
(iv) brass; or
(G) the value of the property stolen is less than
$30,000 and the property stolen is a catalytic converter;
(5) a felony of the third degree if the value of the
property stolen is $30,000 or more but less than $150,000, or the
property is:
(A) cattle, horses, or exotic livestock or exotic
fowl as defined by Section 142.001, Agriculture Code, stolen during
a single transaction and having an aggregate value of less than
$150,000;
(B) 10 or more head of sheep, swine, or goats
stolen during a single transaction and having an aggregate value of
less than $150,000; or
(C) a controlled substance, having a value of
less than $150,000, if stolen from:
(i) a commercial building in which a
controlled substance is generally stored, including a pharmacy,
clinic, hospital, nursing facility, or warehouse; or
(ii) a vehicle owned or operated by a
wholesale distributor of prescription drugs;
(6) a felony of the second degree if:
(A) the value of the property stolen is $150,000
or more but less than $300,000; or
(B) the value of the property stolen is less than
$300,000 and the property stolen is an automated teller machine or
the contents or components of an automated teller machine; or
(7) a felony of the first degree if the value of the
property stolen is $300,000 or more.
SECTION 3. Chapter 31, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Section 31.21 to read as follows:
Sec. 31.21. UNAUTHORIZED POSSESSION OF CATALYTIC
CONVERTER. (a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) intentionally or knowingly possesses a catalytic
converter that has been removed from a motor vehicle; and
(2) is not a person who is authorized under Subsection
(b) to possess the catalytic converter.
(b) A person is presumed to be authorized to possess a
catalytic converter that has been removed from a motor vehicle if
the person:
(1) is the owner, as defined by Section 601.002,
Transportation Code, of the vehicle from which the catalytic
converter was removed;
(2) possesses the catalytic converter in the ordinary
course of the person's business, including:
(A) an automotive wrecking and salvage yard, as
defined by Section 234.001, Local Government Code;
(B) a metal recycling entity registered under
Chapter 1956, Occupations Code;
(C) a dealer or converter licensed under Chapter
2301, Occupations Code;
(D) a salvage vehicle dealer licensed under
Chapter 2302, Occupations Code, or a salvage pool operator, as
defined by Section 2302.001 of that code;
(E) a vehicle storage facility licensed under
Chapter 2303, Occupations Code;
(F) a garage or shop that is engaged in the
business of repairing motor vehicles and subject to Chapter 2305,
Occupations Code;
(G) a towing company licensed under Chapter 2308,
Occupations Code;
(H) a used automotive parts recycler, as defined
by Section 2309.002, Occupations Code;
(I) a person who holds a dealer general
distinguishing number under Chapter 503, Transportation Code;
(J) a motor vehicle demolisher, as defined by
Section 683.001, Transportation Code;
(K) a person located in and regulated by another
state, or a political subdivision of another state, in the
performance of a business activity for which a person would be
regulated in the performance of that activity under a law described
in Paragraphs (A) through (J) by this state or a political
subdivision of this state;
(L) a person located in a jurisdiction outside of
the United States that operates in a business form recognized by the
laws of the other jurisdiction and imports catalytic converters
into the United States in accordance with the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States International Trade Commission; and
(M) a for-hire carrier, including a person who
provides services such as mail, freight, or package delivery by
air, water, rail, or surface transportation; or
(3) is an employee of or independent contractor
providing services to a person described by Subdivision (2) and
possesses the catalytic converter while acting within the course
and scope of the person's employment or independent contractor
services.
(c) The presumption established under Subsection (b) does
not apply to a person described by Subsection (b)(2) or (3) who
knows that the catalytic converter was unlawfully removed from a
motor vehicle or otherwise unlawfully obtained.
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), an offense under
this section is a state jail felony.
(e) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person:
(1) has been previously convicted of an offense under
this section; or
(2) in connection with the offense, engaged in conduct
constituting conspiracy under Section 15.02 to commit an offense
under Section 28.03 or 31.03 with respect to a catalytic converter.
(f) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor may be
prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
SECTION 4. Section 71.02(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to
establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the
profits of a combination or as a member of a criminal street gang,
the person commits or conspires to commit one or more of the
following:
(1) murder, capital murder, arson, aggravated
robbery, robbery, burglary, theft, aggravated kidnapping,
kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual
assault, continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled
individual, solicitation of a minor, forgery, deadly conduct,
assault punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, burglary of a motor
vehicle, or unauthorized use of a motor vehicle;
(2) any gambling offense punishable as a Class A
misdemeanor;
(3) promotion of prostitution, aggravated promotion
of prostitution, or compelling prostitution;
(4) unlawful manufacture, transportation, repair, or
sale of firearms or prohibited weapons;
(5) unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation, or
distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug, or
unlawful possession of a controlled substance or dangerous drug
through forgery, fraud, misrepresentation, or deception;
(5-a) causing the unlawful delivery, dispensation, or
distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug in
violation of Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code;
(6) any unlawful wholesale promotion or possession of
any obscene material or obscene device with the intent to wholesale
promote the same;
(7) any offense under Subchapter B, Chapter 43,
depicting or involving conduct by or directed toward a child
younger than 18 years of age;
(8) any felony offense under Chapter 32;
(9) any offense under Chapter 36;
(10) any offense under Chapter 34, 35, or 35A;
(11) any offense under Section 37.11(a);
(12) any offense under Chapter 20A;
(13) any offense under Section 37.10;
(14) any offense under Section 38.06, 38.07, 38.09, or
38.11;
(15) any offense under Section 42.10;
(16) any offense under Section 46.06(a)(1) or 46.14;
(17) any offense under Section 20.05 or 20.06;
(18) any offense under Section 16.02; [or]
(19) an offense under Section 28.03 that is punishable
under Subsection (b)(4)(E) of that section;
(20) an offense under Section 31.21 that is punishable
under Subsection (d) of that section; or
(21) any offense classified as a felony under the Tax
Code.
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 was committed before that
date.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.