By: West S.B. No. 68
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the reckless discharge of a firearm and other common or
1-2 public nuisances; creating an offense and providing criminal
1-3 penalties and civil remedies.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 42, Penal Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Section 42.12 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 42.12. DISCHARGE OF FIREARM IN MUNICIPALITIES. (a) A
1-8 person commits an offense if the person recklessly discharges a
1-9 firearm inside the corporate limits of a municipality.
1-10 (b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
1-11 (c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
1-12 also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the
1-13 person may be prosecuted under either section.
1-14 (d) Subsection (a) does not affect the authority of a
1-15 municipality to enact an ordinance which prohibits the discharge of
1-16 a firearm.
1-17 SECTION 2. Section 125.001, Civil Practice and Remedies
1-18 Code, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 968, and Section 2, Chapter
1-19 857, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, is amended to read as
1-20 follows:
1-21 Sec. 125.001. COMMON NUISANCE. A person who knowingly
1-22 maintains a place to which persons habitually go for the purpose of
1-23 prostitution or gambling in violation of the Penal Code, for the
2-1 purpose of reckless discharge of a firearm as described by Section
2-2 42.12 <42.015>, Penal Code, for the purpose of engaging in
2-3 organized criminal activity as a member of a combination <or as a
2-4 member of a criminal street gang> as described by Section 71.02,
2-5 Penal Code, <or> for the delivery or use of a controlled substance
2-6 in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or any felony
2-7 maintains a common nuisance.
2-8 SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 125.004, Civil Practice
2-9 and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-10 (a) Proof that prostitution or gambling in violation of the
2-11 Penal Code, that reckless discharge of a firearm as described by
2-12 Section 42.12 <42.015>, Penal Code, or that the delivery or use of
2-13 a controlled substance in violation of Chapter 481, Health and
2-14 Safety Code, is frequently committed at the place involved or that
2-15 the place is frequently used for reckless discharge of a firearm as
2-16 described by Section 42.12 <42.015>, Penal Code, or the frequent
2-17 commission of any felony or felonies is prima facie evidence that
2-18 the proprietor knowingly permitted the act.
2-19 SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 125.004, Civil Practice
2-20 and Remedies Code, as amended by Section 3, Chapter 857, and
2-21 Section 2, Chapter 968, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, is
2-22 amended to read as follows:
2-23 (b) Evidence that persons have been convicted of gambling,
2-24 committing prostitution, reckless discharge of a firearm as
2-25 described by Section 42.12 <42.015>, Penal Code, engaging in
3-1 organized criminal activity as a member of a combination <or a
3-2 criminal street gang> as described by Section 71.02, Penal Code,
3-3 <or> delivering or using a controlled substance in violation of
3-4 Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or any felony in the place
3-5 involved is admissible to show knowledge on the part of the
3-6 defendant that the act occurred. The originals or certified copies
3-7 of the papers and judgments of those convictions are admissible in
3-8 the suit for injunction, and oral evidence is admissible to show
3-9 that the offense for which a person was convicted was committed at
3-10 the place involved.
3-11 SECTION 5. Section 125.021, Civil Practice and Remedies
3-12 Code, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 968, and Section 2, Chapter
3-13 857, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, is amended to read as
3-14 follows:
3-15 Sec. 125.021. PUBLIC NUISANCE. The habitual use or the
3-16 threatened or contemplated habitual use of any place for any of the
3-17 following purposes is a public nuisance:
3-18 (1) gambling, gambling promotion, or communicating
3-19 gambling information prohibited by law;
3-20 (2) promotion or aggravated promotion of prostitution;
3-21 (3) compelling prostitution;
3-22 (4) commercial manufacture, commercial distribution,
3-23 or commercial exhibition of obscene material;
3-24 (5) commercial exhibition of live dances or other acts
3-25 depicting real or simulated sexual intercourse or deviate sexual
4-1 intercourse;
4-2 (6) engaging in a voluntary fight between a man and a
4-3 bull if the fight is for a thing of value or a championship, if a
4-4 thing of value is wagered on the fight, or if an admission fee for
4-5 the fight is directly or indirectly charged, as prohibited by law;
4-6 (7) reckless discharge of a firearm as described by
4-7 Section 42.12 <42.015>, Penal Code; <or>
4-8 (8) <(7)> engaging in organized criminal activity as a
4-9 member of a combination <or as a member of a criminal street gang>
4-10 as described by Section 71.02, Penal Code; <or>
4-11 (9) <(8)> delivering or using a controlled substance
4-12 in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code; or
4-13 (10) committing any felony or felonies.
4-14 SECTION 6. Section 125.041, Civil Practice and Remedies
4-15 Code, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 968, and Section 2, Chapter
4-16 857, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, is amended to read as
4-17 follows:
4-18 Sec. 125.041. PUBLIC NUISANCE. For the purposes of this
4-19 subchapter, a public nuisance is considered to exist at a place if
4-20 one or more of the following acts occurs at that place on a regular
4-21 basis:
4-22 (1) gambling, gambling promotion, or communication of
4-23 gambling information, as prohibited by Chapter 47, Penal Code;
4-24 (2) promotion or aggravated promotion of prostitution,
4-25 as prohibited by Chapter 43, Penal Code;
5-1 (3) compelling prostitution, as prohibited by Chapter
5-2 43, Penal Code;
5-3 (4) commercial manufacture, commercial distribution,
5-4 or commercial exhibition of material that is obscene, as defined by
5-5 Section 43.21, Penal Code;
5-6 (5) commercial exhibition of a live dance or other act
5-7 in which a person engages in real or simulated sexual intercourse
5-8 or deviate sexual intercourse, as defined by Section 43.01, Penal
5-9 Code;
5-10 (6) reckless discharge of a firearm as described by
5-11 Section 42.12 <42.015>, Penal Code; <or>
5-12 (7) <(6)> engaging in organized criminal activity as a
5-13 member of a combination <or as a member of a criminal street gang>
5-14 as described by Section 71.02, Penal Code; <or>
5-15 (8) <(7)> manufacture, delivery, or use of a
5-16 controlled substance in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety
5-17 Code; or
5-18 (9) committing any felony or felonies.
5-19 SECTION 7. The change in law made by Sections 2 through 6 of
5-20 this Act applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after
5-21 the effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrues
5-22 before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
5-23 effect at the time the cause of action accrued, and that law is
5-24 continued in effect for that purpose.
5-25 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-1 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
6-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.