By Turner of Coleman, Combs, et al.                    H.B. No. 556
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the criminal offense of trespass on agricultural lands.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Section 30.05(b), Penal Code, is amended by
    1-5  adding Subdivision (4) to read as follows:
    1-6              (4)  "Agricultural land" has the meaning assigned by
    1-7  Section 75.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
    1-8        SECTION 2.  Section 30.05, Penal Code, is amended by amending
    1-9  Subsection (d) and by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
   1-10        (d)  An offense under Subsection (a) <this section> is a
   1-11  Class B misdemeanor unless it is committed in a habitation or a
   1-12  shelter center or unless the actor carries a deadly weapon on or
   1-13  about his person during the commission of the offense, in which
   1-14  event it is a Class A misdemeanor.  An offense under Subsection (e)
   1-15  is a Class C misdemeanor unless it is committed in a habitation or
   1-16  unless the actor carries a deadly weapon on or about the actor's
   1-17  person during the commission of the offense, in which event it is a
   1-18  Class A misdemeanor.
   1-19        (e)  A person commits an offense if without express consent,
   1-20  or if without legal authority, whether in writing or other form,
   1-21  the person:
   1-22              (1)  enters or remains on agricultural land of another;
   1-23              (2)  is on the agricultural land and within one hundred
   1-24  feet of the boundary of the land when apprehended; and
    2-1              (3)  had notice that the entry was forbidden or
    2-2  received notice to depart but failed to do so.
    2-3        SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
    2-4  only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
    2-5  Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
    2-6  the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
    2-7  before the effective date.
    2-8        (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
    2-9  Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
   2-10  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
   2-11        SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   2-12        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-13  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-14  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-15  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-16  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.