By: Jones, Jesse H.B. No. 2638
73R5574 KLL-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to desecration of burial places and disturbing burials;
1-3 providing criminal penalties.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 42.09, Penal Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Subsection (e) to read as follows:
1-7 (e) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(2)
1-8 of this section that the actor is engaging in an authorized
1-9 archeological study of a place of burial under the direct
1-10 supervision of a professional archeologist and in accordance with
1-11 Chapter 191, Natural Resources Code.
1-12 SECTION 2. Section 42.10, Penal Code, is amended by amending
1-13 Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
1-14 (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
1-15 degree <Class A misdemeanor>.
1-16 (c) A person may not be prosecuted under both this section
1-17 and Section 42.105 for the same act.
1-18 SECTION 3. Chapter 42, Penal Code, is amended by adding
1-19 Section 42.105 to read as follows:
1-20 Sec. 42.105. DISTURBING A BURIAL. (a) In this section:
1-21 (1) "Burial" means a marked or unmarked place,
1-22 excavation, or construction, including a pit, tomb, cairn, mound,
1-23 or other place made or used for interment of human remains or
1-24 burial objects, and any associated human remains or burial objects.
2-1 (2) "Burial object" means an object located in a
2-2 burial, including an item of personal adornment and any casket and
2-3 casket hardware.
2-4 (3) "Human remains" means the physical remains of a
2-5 human body, including bone, teeth, mummified flesh, or ash found
2-6 within a burial.
2-7 (b) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
2-8 or knowingly:
2-9 (1) disturbs, damages, or destroys a burial or a
2-10 burial marker;
2-11 (2) removes any human remains or burial objects from a
2-12 burial; or
2-13 (3) buys, sells, or damages human remains.
2-14 (c) An offense under Subsection (b) of this section is a
2-15 Class A misdemeanor.
2-16 (d) A person commits an offense if the person knows that a
2-17 burial is being disturbed, damaged, or destroyed and the person
2-18 intentionally or knowingly fails to notify a law enforcement agency
2-19 in whose jurisdiction the site of the burial is located that the
2-20 burial is being disturbed, damaged, or destroyed.
2-21 (e) An offense under Subsection (d) of this section is a
2-22 Class B misdemeanor.
2-23 (f) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that
2-24 the burial or burial marker was disturbed, damaged, or destroyed or
2-25 that the human remains or burial object was recovered in accordance
2-26 with:
2-27 (1) Chapter 191, Natural Resources Code; or
3-1 (2) any applicable federal law, rule, or executive
3-2 order, including:
3-3 (A) Chapter 1A or 1B, Title 16, United States
3-4 Code;
3-5 (B) Executive Order 11593 (36 Fed. Reg. 8921);
3-6 or
3-7 (C) 36 C.F.R. Section 800.1 et seq.
3-8 (g) A person may not be prosecuted under both this section
3-9 and Section 42.10 of this code for the same act.
3-10 SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made to Section 42.10,
3-11 Penal Code, and the addition of Section 42.105, Penal Code, by this
3-12 Act, apply only to an offense committed on or after the effective
3-13 date of this Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is
3-14 committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of
3-15 the offense occurs before that date.
3-16 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-17 Act is governed by the law in effect when the offense was
3-18 committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
3-19 purpose.
3-20 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
3-21 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.