By Conley H.B. No. 511
74R2278 DD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to offenses involving threats, retaliation, and
1-3 destruction of community property in which the victim is a member
1-4 of the actor's family.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 22.07, Penal Code, is amended by amending
1-7 Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
1-8 (a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit
1-9 any offense involving violence to any person, including a member of
1-10 the actor's family, or property with intent to:
1-11 (1) cause a reaction of any type to his threat by an
1-12 official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies;
1-13 (2) place any person, including a member of the
1-14 actor's family, in fear of imminent serious bodily injury; or
1-15 (3) prevent or interrupt the occupation or use of a
1-16 building; room; place of assembly; place to which the public has
1-17 access; place of employment or occupation; aircraft, automobile, or
1-18 other form of conveyance; or other public place; or
1-19 (4) cause impairment or interruption of public
1-20 communications, public transportation, public water, gas, or power
1-21 supply or other public service.
1-22 (c) In this section, "family" has the meaning assigned by
1-23 Section 71.01, Family Code.
1-24 SECTION 2. Sections 36.06(a) and (b), Penal Code, are
2-1 amended to read as follows:
2-2 (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or
2-3 knowingly harms or threatens to harm another person, including a
2-4 member of the actor's family, by an unlawful act:
2-5 (1) in retaliation for or on account of the service of
2-6 another person, including a member of the actor's family, as a
2-7 public servant, witness, prospective witness, informant, or a
2-8 person who has reported or who the actor knows intends to report
2-9 the occurrence of a crime; or
2-10 (2) to prevent or delay the service of another person,
2-11 including a member of the actor's family, as a public servant,
2-12 witness, prospective witness, informant, or a person who has
2-13 reported or who the actor knows intends to report the occurrence of
2-14 a crime.
2-15 (b) For purposes of this section:
2-16 (1) "Informant"<, "informant"> means a person who has
2-17 communicated information to the government in connection with any
2-18 governmental function.
2-19 (2) "Family" has the meaning assigned by Section
2-20 71.01, Family Code.
2-21 SECTION 3. Chapter 28, Penal Code, is amended by adding
2-22 Section 28.031 to read as follows:
2-23 Sec. 28.031. DESTRUCTION OF COMMUNITY PROPERTY. (a) In
2-24 this section:
2-25 (1) "Community property" means property characterized
2-26 as community property under Section 5.01(b), Family Code.
2-27 (2) "Household" has the meaning assigned by Section
3-1 71.01, Family Code.
3-2 (b) A person commits an offense if, without the effective
3-3 consent of the person's spouse and with the intent to influence the
3-4 spouse's behavior, the person knowingly:
3-5 (1) damages or destroys community property of the
3-6 person and the person's spouse; or
3-7 (2) tampers with community property of the person and
3-8 the person's spouse and causes pecuniary loss or substantial
3-9 inconvenience to the person's spouse or a member of the person's
3-10 household.
3-11 (c) If more than one item of community property is damaged,
3-12 destroyed, or tampered with in violation of this section during one
3-13 scheme or a continuing course of conduct, the conduct may be
3-14 considered as one offense, and the amounts of the pecuniary loss to
3-15 property resulting from the damage to, destruction of, or tampering
3-16 with the property may be aggregated in determining the grade of the
3-17 offense.
3-18 (d) An offense under this section is:
3-19 (1) a Class C misdemeanor if the amount of pecuniary
3-20 loss is less than $20;
3-21 (2) a Class B misdemeanor if the amount of pecuniary
3-22 loss is $20 or more but less than $500;
3-23 (3) a Class A misdemeanor if:
3-24 (A) the amount of pecuniary loss is $500 or more
3-25 but less than $1,500; or
3-26 (B) the amount of pecuniary loss cannot be
3-27 reasonably ascertained, but the actor causes substantial
4-1 inconvenience to the actor's spouse or a member of the actor's
4-2 household;
4-3 (4) a state jail felony if the amount of pecuniary
4-4 loss is $1,500 or more but less than $20,000;
4-5 (5) a felony of the third degree if the amount of the
4-6 pecuniary loss is $20,000 or more but less than $100,000;
4-7 (6) a felony of the second degree if the amount of
4-8 pecuniary loss is $100,000 or more but less than $200,000; or
4-9 (7) a felony of the first degree if the amount of
4-10 pecuniary loss is $200,000 or more.
4-11 SECTION 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this Act are not intended to
4-12 change the law, but rather to clarify any ambiguity that may exist
4-13 in the prosecution of offenses under Sections 22.07 and 36.06,
4-14 Penal Code, as amended by this Act.
4-15 SECTION 5. Sections 1 and 2 of this Act take effect
4-16 immediately. Section 3 of this Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
4-17 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-22 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
4-23 terms, and it is so enacted.