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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to increasing the criminal penalty for a peace officer who |
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fails to report the suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an |
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elderly person or a person with a disability. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 48.052(a), Human Resources Code, is |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(a) A person commits an offense if the person has cause to |
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believe that an elderly person or person with a disability has been |
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abused, neglected, or exploited or is in the state of abuse, |
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neglect, or exploitation and knowingly fails to report in |
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accordance with this chapter. An offense under this subsection is a |
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Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony |
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if it is shown on the trial of the offense that: |
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(1) the abused, neglected, or exploited person is a |
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person with an intellectual disability who resided in a state |
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supported living center, the ICF-IID component of the Rio Grande |
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State Center, or a facility licensed under Chapter 252, Health and |
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Safety Code, and the actor knew that the person had suffered serious |
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bodily injury as a result of the abuse, neglect, or exploitation; or |
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(2) the actor is a peace officer who encountered the |
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abused, neglected, or exploited person in the course of discharging |
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duties as a peace officer. |
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SECTION 2. 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |