1-1 By: McCall, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Moncrief) H.B. No. 43
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 1995;
1-3 May 12, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
1-4 Justice; May 22, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 22, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to civil liability for stalking.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Title 4, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
1-11 amended by adding Chapter 83 to read as follows:
1-12 CHAPTER 83. LIABILITY FOR STALKING
1-13 Sec. 83.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-14 (1) "Claimant" means a party seeking to recover
1-15 damages under this chapter, including a plaintiff, counterclaimant,
1-16 cross-claimant, or third-party plaintiff. In an action in which a
1-17 party seeks recovery of damages under this chapter on behalf of
1-18 another person, "claimant" includes both that other person and the
1-19 party seeking recovery of damages.
1-20 (2) "Defendant" includes any party from whom a
1-21 claimant seeks recovery of damages under this chapter.
1-22 (3) "Family" has the meaning assigned by Section
1-23 71.01, Family Code.
1-24 (4) "Harassing behavior" means conduct by the
1-25 defendant directed specifically toward the claimant, including
1-26 following the claimant, that is reasonably likely to harass, annoy,
1-27 alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass the claimant.
1-28 Sec. 83.002. LIABILITY. A defendant is liable, as provided
1-29 by this chapter, to a claimant for damages arising from stalking of
1-30 the claimant by the defendant.
1-31 Sec. 83.003. PROOF. (a) A claimant proves stalking against
1-32 a defendant by showing:
1-33 (1) on more than one occasion the defendant engaged in
1-34 harassing behavior;
1-35 (2) as a result of the harassing behavior, the
1-36 claimant reasonably feared for the claimant's safety or the safety
1-37 of a member of the claimant's family; and
1-38 (3) the defendant violated a restraining order
1-39 prohibiting harassing behavior or:
1-40 (A) the defendant, while engaged in harassing
1-41 behavior, by acts or words threatened to inflict bodily injury on
1-42 the claimant or to commit an offense against the claimant, a member
1-43 of the claimant's family, or the claimant's property;
1-44 (B) the defendant had the apparent ability to
1-45 carry out the threat;
1-46 (C) the defendant's apparent ability to carry
1-47 out the threat caused the claimant to reasonably fear for the
1-48 claimant's safety or the safety of a family member;
1-49 (D) the claimant at least once clearly demanded
1-50 that the defendant stop the defendant's harassing behavior;
1-51 (E) after the demand to stop by the claimant,
1-52 the defendant continued the harassing behavior; and
1-53 (F) the harassing behavior has been reported to
1-54 the police as a stalking offense.
1-55 (b) The claimant must, as part of the proof of the behavior
1-56 described by Subsection (a)(1), submit evidence other than evidence
1-57 based on the claimant's own perceptions and beliefs.
1-58 Sec. 83.004. DAMAGES. A claimant who prevails in a suit
1-59 under this chapter may recover actual damages and, subject to
1-60 Chapter 41, exemplary damages.
1-61 Sec. 83.005. DEFENSE. It is a defense to an action brought
1-62 under this chapter that the defendant was engaged in conduct that
1-63 consisted of activity in support of constitutionally or statutorily
1-64 protected rights.
1-65 Sec. 83.006. CAUSE OF ACTION CUMULATIVE. The cause of
1-66 action created by this chapter is cumulative of any other remedy
1-67 provided by common law or statute.
1-68 SECTION 2. A person may sue for damages for stalking under
2-1 Chapter 83, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as added by this Act,
2-2 only if an act by the defendant that constitutes part of the proof
2-3 by the claimant of stalking takes place on or after the effective
2-4 date of this Act, without regard to whether other acts by the
2-5 defendant that constitute part of the proof by the claimant of
2-6 stalking take place before the effective date of this Act.
2-7 SECTION 3. 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.
2-14 * * * * *