73R3127 DLF-F
          By Cain, et al.                                        H.B. No. 697
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to civil actions to abate certain activities of
    1-3  combinations or criminal street gangs.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Sections 125.001, 125.021, and 125.041, Civil
    1-6  Practice and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 125.001.  Common Nuisance.  A person who knowingly
    1-8  maintains a place to which persons habitually go for the purpose of
    1-9  prostitution or gambling in violation of the Penal Code, for the
   1-10  purpose of engaging in organized criminal activity as a member of a
   1-11  combination or as a member of a criminal street gang as described
   1-12  by Section 71.02, Penal Code, or for the delivery or use of a
   1-13  controlled substance in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety
   1-14  Code, maintains a common nuisance.
   1-15        Sec. 125.021.  Public Nuisance.  The habitual use or the
   1-16  threatened or contemplated habitual use of any place for any of the
   1-17  following purposes is a public nuisance:
   1-18              (1)  gambling, gambling promotion, or communicating
   1-19  gambling information prohibited by law;
   1-20              (2)  promotion or aggravated promotion of prostitution;
   1-21              (3)  compelling prostitution;
   1-22              (4)  commercial manufacture, commercial distribution,
   1-23  or commercial exhibition of obscene material;
   1-24              (5)  commercial exhibition of live dances or other acts
    2-1  depicting real or simulated sexual intercourse or deviate sexual
    2-2  intercourse;
    2-3              (6)  engaging in a voluntary fight between a man and a
    2-4  bull if the fight is for a thing of value or a championship, if a
    2-5  thing of value is wagered on the fight, or if an admission fee for
    2-6  the fight is directly or indirectly charged, as prohibited by law;
    2-7  <or>
    2-8              (7)  engaging in organized criminal activity as a
    2-9  member of a combination or as a member of a criminal street gang as
   2-10  described by Section 71.02, Penal Code; or
   2-11              (8)  delivering or using a controlled substance in
   2-12  violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code.
   2-13        Sec. 125.041.  Public Nuisance.  For the purposes of this
   2-14  subchapter, a public nuisance is considered to exist at a place if
   2-15  one or more of the following acts occurs at that place on a regular
   2-16  basis:
   2-17              (1)  gambling, gambling promotion, or communication of
   2-18  gambling information, as prohibited by Chapter 47, Penal Code;
   2-19              (2)  promotion or aggravated promotion of prostitution,
   2-20  as prohibited by Chapter 43, Penal Code;
   2-21              (3)  compelling prostitution, as prohibited by Chapter
   2-22  43, Penal Code;
   2-23              (4)  commercial manufacture, commercial distribution,
   2-24  or commercial exhibition of material that is obscene, as defined by
   2-25  Section 43.21, Penal Code;
   2-26              (5)  commercial exhibition of a live dance or other act
   2-27  in which a person engages in real or simulated sexual intercourse
    3-1  or deviate sexual intercourse, as defined by Section 43.01, Penal
    3-2  Code; <or>
    3-3              (6)  engaging in organized criminal activity as a
    3-4  member of a combination or as a member of a criminal street gang as
    3-5  described by Section 71.02, Penal Code; or
    3-6              (7)  manufacture, delivery, or use of a controlled
    3-7  substance in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code.
    3-8        SECTION 2.  Sections 125.004(a) and (b), Civil Practice and
    3-9  Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
   3-10        (a)  Proof that prostitution or gambling in violation of the
   3-11  Penal Code, that organized criminal activity by a member of a
   3-12  combination or criminal street gang as described by Section 71.02,
   3-13  Penal Code, or that the delivery or use of a controlled substance
   3-14  in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, is frequently
   3-15  committed at the place involved, or that the place is frequently
   3-16  used for engaging in organized criminal activity by a member of a
   3-17  combination or criminal street gang as described by Section 71.02,
   3-18  Penal Code, is prima facie evidence that the proprietor knowingly
   3-19  permitted the act.
   3-20        (b)  Evidence that persons have been convicted of gambling,
   3-21  committing prostitution, engaging in organized criminal activity as
   3-22  a member of a combination or a criminal street gang as described by
   3-23  Section 71.02, Penal Code, or delivering or using a controlled
   3-24  substance in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in
   3-25  the place involved is admissible to show knowledge on the part of
   3-26  the defendant that the act occurred.  The originals or certified
   3-27  copies of the papers and judgments of those convictions are
    4-1  admissible in the suit for injunction, and oral evidence is
    4-2  admissible to show that the offense for which a person was
    4-3  convicted was committed at the place involved.
    4-4        SECTION 3.  Chapter 125, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
    4-5  amended by adding Subchapter D to read as follows:
    4-6           SUBCHAPTER D.  MEMBERSHIP IN CRIMINAL STREET GANG
    4-7        Sec. 125.061.  DEFINITIONS.   In this subchapter,
    4-8  "combination" and "criminal street gang" have the meanings assigned
    4-9  by Section 71.01, Penal Code.
   4-10        Sec. 125.062.  PUBLIC NUISANCE; COMBINATION OR CRIMINAL
   4-11  STREET GANG.  A combination or criminal street gang that
   4-12  continuously or regularly associates in organized criminal
   4-13  activities as described by Section 71.02, Penal Code, is a public
   4-14  nuisance.
   4-15        Sec. 125.063.  PUBLIC NUISANCE; USE OF PLACE.  The habitual
   4-16  use of a place for engaging in organized criminal activity as
   4-17  described by Section 71.02, Penal Code, is a public nuisance.
   4-18        Sec. 125.064.  SUIT TO ABATE NUISANCE.  (a)  A district,
   4-19  county, or city attorney, the attorney general, or a resident of
   4-20  the state may sue to enjoin a public nuisance under this
   4-21  subchapter.
   4-22        (b)  Any person who habitually associates with others to
   4-23  engage in organized criminal activity as a member of a combination
   4-24  or criminal street gang may be made a defendant in the suit.  Any
   4-25  person who owns or is responsible for maintaining a place that is
   4-26  habitually used for engaging in organized criminal activity as
   4-27  described by Section 71.02, Penal Code, may be made a defendant in
    5-1  the suit.
    5-2        (c)  If the suit is brought by the state, the petition does
    5-3  not require verification.
    5-4        (d)  If the suit is brought by a resident, the resident is
    5-5  not required to show personal injury.
    5-6        Sec. 125.065.  COURT ORDER.  (a)  If the court finds that a
    5-7  combination or criminal street gang constitutes a public nuisance,
    5-8  the court may enter an order enjoining a defendant in the suit from
    5-9  engaging in the organized criminal activities of the combination or
   5-10  gang.
   5-11        (b)  If the court finds that a place is habitually used in a
   5-12  manner that constitutes a public nuisance, the court may include in
   5-13  its order reasonable requirements to prevent the use of the place
   5-14  for organized criminal activity.
   5-15        Sec. 125.066.  VIOLATION OF COURT ORDER.  A person who
   5-16  violates a temporary or permanent injunctive order under this
   5-17  subchapter is subject to the following sentences for civil
   5-18  contempt:
   5-19              (1)  a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than
   5-20  $10,000;
   5-21              (2)  confinement in jail for a term of not less than 10
   5-22  nor more than 30 days; or
   5-23              (3)  both fine and confinement.
   5-24        Sec. 125.067.  CONTINUATION OF ACTIVITIES PENDING TRIAL OR
   5-25  APPEAL; APPEAL.  (a)  A person may not continue the enjoined
   5-26  activity pending trial or appeal on the merits of an injunctive
   5-27  order in a suit brought under this subchapter.
    6-1        (b)  Not later than the 90th day after the date of the
    6-2  injunctive order, an appropriate court of appeals shall hear and
    6-3  decide an appeal taken by a person enjoined under this subchapter.
    6-4        (c)  If an appeal is not taken by a person temporarily
    6-5  enjoined under this subchapter, the person is entitled to a trial
    6-6  on the merits not later than the 90th day after the date of the
    6-7  temporary injunctive order.
    6-8        Sec. 125.068.  ATTORNEY'S FEES.  In an action brought under
    6-9  this subchapter, the court may award a prevailing party reasonable
   6-10  attorney's fees and costs.
   6-11        SECTION 4.  This Act applies only to conduct that occurs on
   6-12  or after the effective date of this Act, except that evidence of
   6-13  conduct that occurred before the effective date of this Act may be
   6-14  considered for the purpose of determining whether a person
   6-15  habitually associated with others to engage in organized criminal
   6-16  activity as a member of a combination or criminal street gang or
   6-17  whether a place is habitually used for engaging in organized
   6-18  criminal activity by a member of a combination or criminal street
   6-19  gang.  Conduct that occurred before the effective date of this Act
   6-20  is governed by the law in effect at the time the conduct occurred,
   6-21  and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
   6-22        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
   6-23  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   6-24  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   6-25  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   6-26  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   6-27  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
    7-1  passage, and it is so enacted.