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.