By: Conley H.B. No. 441
73R1965 DRH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to offenses committed by an actor against the actor's
1-3 spouse or a member of the actor's family or household, and to the
1-4 definition of "owner" in the Penal Code.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 1.07(a)(24), Penal Code, is amended to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 (24) "Owner" means a person who:
1-9 (A) has title to the property, possession of the
1-10 property, whether lawful or not, or a greater right to possession
1-11 of the property than the actor; <or>
1-12 (B) is a holder in due course of a negotiable
1-13 instrument; or
1-14 (C) has possession of community property as
1-15 defined by Section 5.01, Family Code, that is subject to the
1-16 person's sole management, control, and disposition, or who has
1-17 possession of the property pursuant to an order issued under
1-18 Section 3.58, 3.581, 71.11, or 71.12, Family Code.
1-19 SECTION 2. Chapter 6, Penal Code, is amended by adding
1-20 Section 6.05 to read as follows:
1-21 Sec. 6.05. WHEN VICTIM IS MEMBER OF ACTOR'S FAMILY OR
1-22 HOUSEHOLD. Conduct against an individual that constitutes an
1-23 offense under this code does not lose its status as an offense
1-24 because it is committed by an actor against an individual who is
2-1 the actor's spouse or a member of the actor's family or household,
2-2 unless the offense is defined to specifically exclude conduct
2-3 against a spouse or family or household member.
2-4 SECTION 3. This Act is not intended to change the law, but
2-5 rather to clarify any ambiguity that may exist in the prosecution
2-6 of criminal offenses.
2-7 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-12 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-13 passage, and it is so enacted.