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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the criminal punishment and conditions of community |
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supervision for the offense of obstructing a highway or other |
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passageway; increasing a criminal penalty. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Subchapter K, Chapter 42A, Code of Criminal |
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Procedure, is amended by adding Article 42A.517 to read as follows: |
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Art. 42A.517. COMMUNITY SUPERVISION FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES |
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INVOLVING OBSTRUCTION OF HIGHWAY OR OTHER PASSAGEWAY. A court |
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granting community supervision to a defendant convicted of an |
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offense punishable as a state jail felony under Section 42.03, |
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Penal Code, shall require as a condition of community supervision |
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that the defendant submit to not less than 10 days of confinement in |
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a county jail. |
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SECTION 2. Section 42.03(c), Penal Code, is amended to read |
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as follows: |
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(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor, |
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except that the offense is a state jail felony if, in committing the |
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offense, the actor knowingly: |
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(1) prevents the passage of an authorized emergency |
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vehicle, as defined by Section 541.201, Transportation Code, that |
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is operating the vehicle's emergency audible or visual signals |
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required by Section 546.003, Transportation Code; or |
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(2) obstructs access to a hospital licensed under |
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Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code, or other health care facility |
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that provides emergency medical care, as defined by Section |
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773.003, Health and Safety Code. |
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SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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before that date. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |