By Wentworth S.B. No. 343
74R4403 GWK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the punishment of assaults committed against certain
1-3 public servants.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 22.01, Penal Code, is amended by amending
1-6 Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsections (d), (e), and (f) to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (e), an <An> offense
1-9 under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A misdemeanor.
1-10 (c) Except as provided by Subsections (e) and (f), an
1-11 offense under Subsection (a)(2) is a Class C misdemeanor.
1-12 (d) Except as provided by Subsection (f), an <An> offense
1-13 under Subsection (a)<(2) or> (3) is a Class C misdemeanor.
1-14 (e) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2) is a felony
1-15 of the third degree if:
1-16 (1) the person assaulted is a member of the Board of
1-17 Pardons and Paroles or the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, an
1-18 employee of the pardons and paroles division of the Texas
1-19 Department of Criminal Justice, an employee of the Windham Schools,
1-20 a peace officer, or a jailer, guard, or other employee of a
1-21 municipal or county jail, the institutional division of the Texas
1-22 Department of Criminal Justice, or a correctional facility
1-23 authorized by Subchapter F, Chapter 351, Local Government Code, or
1-24 Chapter 495, Government Code;
2-1 (2) the actor knows or has been informed that the
2-2 person assaulted is a member of the Board of Pardons and Paroles or
2-3 the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, an employee of the pardons and
2-4 paroles division, an employee of the Windham Schools, a peace
2-5 officer, or a jailer, guard, or other employee; and
2-6 (3) the offense is committed:
2-7 (A) while the member of the Board of Pardons and
2-8 Paroles or Texas Board of Criminal Justice, employee of the pardons
2-9 and paroles division, employee of the Windham Schools, peace
2-10 officer, or jailer, guard, or other employee is lawfully
2-11 discharging an official duty; or
2-12 (B) in retaliation for or on account of an
2-13 exercise of official power or performance of an official duty as a
2-14 member of the Board of Pardons and Paroles or Texas Board of
2-15 Criminal Justice, an employee of the pardons and paroles division,
2-16 an employee of the Windham Schools, a peace officer, or a jailer,
2-17 guard, or other employee.
2-18 (f) An offense under Subsection (a)(2) or (a)(3) is a Class
2-19 B misdemeanor if the offense is committed against a classroom
2-20 teacher, counselor, principal, or other similar instructional or
2-21 administrative employee of a primary or secondary school accredited
2-22 by the Central Education Agency, other than the Windham Schools,
2-23 while the employee is engaged in performing educational duties.
2-24 SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
2-25 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
2-26 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
2-27 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
3-1 before the effective date.
3-2 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-3 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-4 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-5 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-6 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.