By:  Lucio                                             S.B. No. 676
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to the prosecution for theft of certain pesticides.
    1-2        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-3        SECTION 1.  Section 31.03, Penal Code, is amended by amending
    1-4  Subsection (c) and by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
    1-5        (c)  For purposes of Subsection (b):
    1-6              (1)  evidence that the actor has previously
    1-7  participated in recent transactions other than, but similar to,
    1-8  that which the prosecution is based is admissible for the purpose
    1-9  of showing knowledge or intent and the issues of knowledge or
   1-10  intent are raised by the actor's plea of not guilty;
   1-11              (2)  the testimony of an accomplice shall be
   1-12  corroborated by proof that tends to connect the actor to the crime,
   1-13  but the actor's knowledge or intent may be established by the
   1-14  uncorroborated testimony of the accomplice;
   1-15              (3)  an actor engaged in the business of buying and
   1-16  selling used or secondhand personal property, or lending money on
   1-17  the security of personal property deposited with him, is presumed
   1-18  to know upon receipt by the actor of stolen property (other than a
   1-19  motor vehicle subject to Article 6687-1, Vernon's Texas Civil
   1-20  Statutes) that the property has been previously stolen from another
   1-21  if the actor pays for or loans against the property $25 or more (or
   1-22  consideration of equivalent value) and the actor knowingly or
   1-23  recklessly:
   1-24                    (A)  fails to record the name, address, and
    2-1  physical description or identification number of the seller or
    2-2  pledgor;
    2-3                    (B)  fails to record a complete description of
    2-4  the property, including the serial number, if reasonably available,
    2-5  or other identifying characteristics; or
    2-6                    (C)  fails to obtain a signed warranty from the
    2-7  seller or pledgor that the seller or pledgor has the right to
    2-8  possess the property.  It is the express intent of this provision
    2-9  that the presumption arises unless the actor complies with each of
   2-10  the numbered requirements;
   2-11              (4)  for the purposes of Subdivision (3)(A),
   2-12  "identification number" means driver's license number, military
   2-13  identification number, identification certificate, or other
   2-14  official number capable of identifying an individual;
   2-15              (5)  stolen property does not lose its character as
   2-16  stolen when recovered by any law enforcement agency;
   2-17              (6)  an actor engaged in the business of obtaining
   2-18  abandoned or wrecked motor vehicles or parts of an abandoned or
   2-19  wrecked motor vehicle for resale, disposal, scrap, repair,
   2-20  rebuilding, demolition, or other form of salvage is presumed to
   2-21  know on receipt by the actor of stolen property that the property
   2-22  has been previously stolen from another if the actor knowingly or
   2-23  recklessly:
   2-24                    (A)  fails to maintain an accurate and legible
   2-25  inventory of each motor vehicle component part purchased by or
   2-26  delivered to the actor, including the date of purchase or delivery,
   2-27  the name, age, address, sex, and driver's license number of the
    3-1  seller or person making the delivery, the license plate number of
    3-2  the motor vehicle in which the part was delivered, a complete
    3-3  description of the part, and the vehicle identification number of
    3-4  the motor vehicle from which the part was removed, or in lieu of
    3-5  maintaining an inventory, fails to record the name and certificate
    3-6  of inventory number of the person who dismantled the motor vehicle
    3-7  from which the part was obtained;
    3-8                    (B)  fails on receipt of a motor vehicle to
    3-9  obtain a certificate of authority, sales receipt, or transfer
   3-10  document as required by Article V, Section 1, Chapter 741, Acts of
   3-11  the 67th Legislature, Regular Session, 1981 (Article 4477-9a,
   3-12  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), or a certificate of title showing
   3-13  that the motor vehicle is not subject to a lien or that all
   3-14  recorded liens on the motor vehicle have been released; or
   3-15                    (C)  fails on receipt of a motor vehicle to
   3-16  immediately remove an unexpired license plate from the motor
   3-17  vehicle, to keep the plate in a secure and locked place, or to
   3-18  maintain an inventory, on forms provided by the Texas Department of
   3-19  Transportation, of license plates kept under this paragraph,
   3-20  including for each plate or set of plates the license plate number
   3-21  and the make, motor number, and vehicle identification number of
   3-22  the motor vehicle from which the plate was removed; <and>
   3-23              (7)  an actor who purchases or receives a used or
   3-24  secondhand motor vehicle is presumed to know on receipt by the
   3-25  actor of the motor vehicle that the motor vehicle has been
   3-26  previously stolen from another if the actor knowingly or
   3-27  recklessly:
    4-1                    (A)  fails to report to the Texas Department of
    4-2  Transportation the failure of the person who sold or delivered the
    4-3  motor vehicle to the actor to deliver to the actor a properly
    4-4  executed certificate of title to the motor vehicle at the time the
    4-5  motor vehicle was delivered; or
    4-6                    (B)  fails to file with the county tax
    4-7  assessor-collector of the county in which the actor received the
    4-8  motor vehicle, not later than the 20th day after the date the actor
    4-9  received the motor vehicle, the registration license receipt and
   4-10  certificate of title or evidence of title delivered to the actor in
   4-11  accordance with Section 2, Chapter 364, Acts of the 50th
   4-12  Legislature, Regular Session, 1947 (Article 6687-6, Vernon's Texas
   4-13  Civil Statutes), at the time the motor vehicle was delivered; and
   4-14              (8)  an actor who purchases or receives from any source
   4-15  other than a licensed retailer or distributor of pesticides a
   4-16  restricted-use pesticide or a state-limited-use pesticide or a
   4-17  compound, mixture, or preparation containing a restricted-use or
   4-18  state-limited-use pesticide is presumed to know on receipt by the
   4-19  actor of the pesticide or compound, mixture, or preparation that
   4-20  the pesticide or compound, mixture, or preparation has been
   4-21  previously stolen from another if the actor:
   4-22                    (A)  fails to record the name, address, and
   4-23  physical description of the seller or pledgor;
   4-24                    (B)  fails to record a complete description of
   4-25  the amount and type of pesticide or compound, mixture, or
   4-26  preparation purchased or received; and
   4-27                    (C)  fails to obtain a signed warranty from the
    5-1  seller or pledgor that the seller or pledgor has the right to
    5-2  possess the property.
    5-3        (g)  In this section:
    5-4              (1)  "Restricted-use pesticide" means a pesticide
    5-5  classified as a restricted-use pesticide by the administrator of
    5-6  the Environmental Protection Agency under 7 U.S.C. Section 136a, as
    5-7  that law existed on January 1, 1995, and containing an active
    5-8  ingredient listed in the federal regulations adopted under that law
    5-9  (40 C.F.R. Section 152.175) and in effect on that date.
   5-10              (2)  "State-limited-use pesticide" means a pesticide
   5-11  classified as a state-limited-use pesticide by the Department of
   5-12  Agriculture under Section 76.003, Agriculture Code, as that section
   5-13  existed on January 1, 1995, and containing an active ingredient
   5-14  listed in the rules adopted under that section (4 TAC Section 7.24)
   5-15  as that section existed on that date.
   5-16        SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
   5-17  only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
   5-18  Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
   5-19  the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
   5-20  before the effective date.
   5-21        (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
   5-22  Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
   5-23  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
   5-24        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   5-25        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   5-26  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   5-27  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    6-1  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    6-2  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.