S.B. No. 68
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 CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES.
1-8 (a) A person commits an offense if the person recklessly
1-9 discharges a firearm inside the corporate limits of a municipality
1-10 having a population of 100,000 or more.
1-11 (b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
1-12 (c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
1-13 also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the
1-14 person may be prosecuted under either section.
1-15 (d) Subsection (a) does not affect the authority of a
1-16 municipality to enact an ordinance which prohibits the discharge of
1-17 a firearm.
1-18 SECTION 2. Section 125.001, Civil Practice and Remedies
1-19 Code, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 968, and Section 2, Chapter
1-20 857, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, is amended to read as
1-21 follows:
1-22 Sec. 125.001. COMMON NUISANCE. A person who knowingly
1-23 maintains a place to which persons habitually go for the purpose of
2-1 prostitution or gambling in violation of the Penal Code, for the
2-2 purpose of discharge of a firearm in a public place in violation of
2-3 Section 42.01(a)(9), Penal Code, for the purpose of reckless
2-4 discharge of a firearm as described by Section 42.12 <42.015>,
2-5 Penal Code, for the purpose of engaging in organized criminal
2-6 activity as a member of a combination <or as a member of a criminal
2-7 street gang> as described by Section 71.02, Penal Code, or for the
2-8 delivery or use of a controlled substance in violation of Chapter
2-9 481, Health and Safety Code, maintains a common nuisance.
2-10 SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 125.004, Civil Practice
2-11 and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-12 (a) Proof that prostitution or gambling in violation of the
2-13 Penal Code, that discharge of a firearm in a public place in
2-14 violation of Section 42.01(a)(9), Penal Code, that reckless
2-15 discharge of a firearm as described by Section 42.12 <42.015>,
2-16 Penal Code, or that the delivery or use of a controlled substance
2-17 in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, is frequently
2-18 committed at the place involved or that the place is frequently
2-19 used for reckless discharge of a firearm as described by Section
2-20 42.12 <42.015>, Penal Code, is prima facie evidence that the
2-21 proprietor knowingly permitted the act.
2-22 SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 125.004, Civil Practice
2-23 and Remedies Code, as amended by Section 3, Chapter 857, and
2-24 Section 2, Chapter 968, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, is
2-25 amended to read as follows:
3-1 (b) Evidence that persons have been convicted of gambling,
3-2 committing prostitution, discharge of a firearm in a public place
3-3 in violation of Section 42.01(a)(9), Penal Code, reckless discharge
3-4 of a firearm as described by Section 42.12 <42.015>, Penal Code,
3-5 engaging in organized criminal activity as a member of a
3-6 combination <or a criminal street gang> as described by Section
3-7 71.02, Penal Code, or delivering or using a controlled substance in
3-8 violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in the place
3-9 involved is admissible to show knowledge on the part of the
3-10 defendant that the act occurred. The originals or certified copies
3-11 of the papers and judgments of those convictions are admissible in
3-12 the suit for injunction, and oral evidence is admissible to show
3-13 that the offense for which a person was convicted was committed at
3-14 the place involved.
3-15 SECTION 5. Section 125.021, Civil Practice and Remedies
3-16 Code, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 968, and Section 2, Chapter
3-17 857, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, is amended to read as
3-18 follows:
3-19 Sec. 125.021. PUBLIC NUISANCE. The habitual use or the
3-20 threatened or contemplated habitual use of any place for any of the
3-21 following purposes is a public nuisance:
3-22 (1) gambling, gambling promotion, or communicating
3-23 gambling information prohibited by law;
3-24 (2) promotion or aggravated promotion of prostitution;
3-25 (3) compelling prostitution;
4-1 (4) commercial manufacture, commercial distribution,
4-2 or commercial exhibition of obscene material;
4-3 (5) commercial exhibition of live dances or other acts
4-4 depicting real or simulated sexual intercourse or deviate sexual
4-5 intercourse;
4-6 (6) engaging in a voluntary fight between a man and a
4-7 bull if the fight is for a thing of value or a championship, if a
4-8 thing of value is wagered on the fight, or if an admission fee for
4-9 the fight is directly or indirectly charged, as prohibited by law;
4-10 (7) discharge of a firearm in a public place in
4-11 violation of Section 42.01(a)(9), Penal Code;
4-12 (8) reckless discharge of a firearm as described by
4-13 Section 42.12 <42.015>, Penal Code; <or>
4-14 (9) <(7)> engaging in organized criminal activity as a
4-15 member of a combination <or as a member of a criminal street gang>
4-16 as described by Section 71.02, Penal Code; or
4-17 (10) <(8)> delivering or using a controlled substance
4-18 in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code.
4-19 SECTION 6. Section 125.041, Civil Practice and Remedies
4-20 Code, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 968, and Section 2, Chapter
4-21 857, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, is amended to read as
4-22 follows:
4-23 Sec. 125.041. PUBLIC NUISANCE. For the purposes of this
4-24 subchapter, a public nuisance is considered to exist at a place if
4-25 one or more of the following acts occurs at that place on a regular
5-1 basis:
5-2 (1) gambling, gambling promotion, or communication of
5-3 gambling information, as prohibited by Chapter 47, Penal Code;
5-4 (2) promotion or aggravated promotion of prostitution,
5-5 as prohibited by Chapter 43, Penal Code;
5-6 (3) compelling prostitution, as prohibited by Chapter
5-7 43, Penal Code;
5-8 (4) commercial manufacture, commercial distribution,
5-9 or commercial exhibition of material that is obscene, as defined by
5-10 Section 43.21, Penal Code;
5-11 (5) commercial exhibition of a live dance or other act
5-12 in which a person engages in real or simulated sexual intercourse
5-13 or deviate sexual intercourse, as defined by Section 43.01, Penal
5-14 Code;
5-15 (6) discharge of a firearm in violation of Section
5-16 42.01(a)(9), Penal Code;
5-17 (7) reckless discharge of a firearm as described by
5-18 Section 42.12 <42.015>, Penal Code; <or>
5-19 (8) <(6)> engaging in organized criminal activity as a
5-20 member of a combination <or as a member of a criminal street gang>
5-21 as described by Section 71.02, Penal Code; or
5-22 (9) <(7)> manufacture, delivery, or use of a
5-23 controlled substance in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety
5-24 Code.
5-25 SECTION 7. The change in law made by Sections 2 through 6 of
6-1 this Act applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after
6-2 the effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrues
6-3 before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
6-4 effect at the time the cause of action accrued, and that law is
6-5 continued in effect for that purpose.
6-6 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-7 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
6-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.