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Senate Bill 743 |
Senate Author: Nelson |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
House Sponsor: Lucio III |
Senate Bill 743 amends the Penal Code to create the third degree felony offense of repeated violation of certain court orders or bond conditions in a family violence case for a person who, during a period that is 12 months or less in duration, two or more times engages in conduct that constitutes such a violation. The bill requires a jury to agree unanimously that the defendant engaged in that conduct during that period and sets out the circumstances under which a defendant may be convicted in the same criminal action of another related offense and under which a defendant may not be charged with more than one count of the repeated violation offense. The bill establishes penalty enhancements for the offense of violating a court order or bond condition in a family violence case for a defendant who has previously been convicted two or more times of the repeated violation offense or one time of each of those offenses.
Senate Bill 743 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure and Government Code to establish venue for the repeated violation offense, to include cases prosecuted under that offense among the cases to which certain courts must give preference, and to make a defendant ineligible to petition a court for an order of nondisclosure if the defendant has been previously convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for that offense. The bill excludes a deferred adjudication for that offense from the deferred adjudication orders that are exempt from being considered a conviction for purposes of state law regarding concealed handgun licensing. The bill also amends the Occupations Code to require the Texas Board of Nursing to suspend a nurse's license or refuse to issue a license to an applicant who has been convicted of that offense.