By Nixon                                              H.B. No. 1667
       74R6777 GWK-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to capital punishment for murders committed during the
    1-3  commission of certain offenses under the Texas Controlled
    1-4  Substances Act.
    1-5        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-6        SECTION 1.  Section 19.03(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
    1-7  as follows:
    1-8        (a)  A person commits an offense if he commits murder as
    1-9  defined under Section 19.02(b)(1) and:
   1-10              (1)  the person murders a peace officer or fireman who
   1-11  is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the
   1-12  person knows is a peace officer or fireman;
   1-13              (2)  the person intentionally commits the murder in the
   1-14  course of committing or attempting to commit:
   1-15                    (A)  kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated
   1-16  sexual assault, arson, or obstruction or retaliation; or
   1-17                    (B)  an offense under Section 481.112, 481.113,
   1-18  481.114, 481.120, or 481.122, Health and Safety Code;
   1-19              (3)  the person commits the murder for remuneration or
   1-20  the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder
   1-21  for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;
   1-22              (4)  the person commits the murder while escaping or
   1-23  attempting to escape from a penal institution;
   1-24              (5)  the person, while incarcerated in a penal
    2-1  institution, murders another:
    2-2                    (A)  who is employed in the operation of the
    2-3  penal institution; or
    2-4                    (B)  with the intent to establish, maintain, or
    2-5  participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination;
    2-6              (6)  the person:
    2-7                    (A)  while incarcerated for an offense under this
    2-8  section or Section 19.02, murders another; or
    2-9                    (B)  while serving a sentence of life
   2-10  imprisonment or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section
   2-11  20.04, 22.021, or 29.03, murders another;
   2-12              (7)  the person murders more than one person:
   2-13                    (A)  during the same criminal transaction; or
   2-14                    (B)  during different criminal transactions but
   2-15  the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of
   2-16  conduct; or
   2-17              (8)  the person murders  an individual under six years
   2-18  of age.
   2-19        SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
   2-20  only to an offense  committed on or after the effective date of
   2-21  this Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed
   2-22  before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
   2-23  occurs before the effective date.
   2-24        (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
   2-25  Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
   2-26  and the former law is continued in effect for this purpose.
   2-27        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
    3-1        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
    3-2  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    3-3  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    3-4  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-5  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.