By Kubiak                                        H.B. No. 369

      75R175 JSA-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the penalties for certain offenses involving activities

 1-3     as an athlete agent.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 8(c), Chapter 13, Acts of the 70th

 1-6     Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1987 (Article 8871, Vernon's Texas

 1-7     Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:

 1-8           (c)  An athlete agent commits an offense if the agent

 1-9     intentionally or knowingly violates this Act or a rule adopted

1-10     under this Act.  An offense under this subsection is a Class A

1-11     misdemeanor unless it is shown on the trial of the offense that the

1-12     defendant has previously been convicted under this subsection, in

1-13     which event an offense under this subsection is a misdemeanor

1-14     punishable by:

1-15                 (1)  a fine not to exceed $250,000;

1-16                 (2)  confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one

1-17     year; or

1-18                 (3)  both such fine and confinement.

1-19           SECTION 2.  Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is

1-20     amended by adding Section 13D to read as follows:

1-21           Sec. 13D.  COMMUNITY SUPERVISION FOR ATHLETE AGENT OFFENSE.

1-22     A judge granting community supervision to a defendant convicted of

1-23     an offense under Section 8(c), Chapter 13, Acts of the 70th

1-24     Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1987 (Article 8871, Vernon's Texas

 2-1     Civil Statutes),  when it is shown on trial of the offense that the

 2-2     defendant has previously been convicted of an offense under Section

 2-3     8(c), shall require as a term of community supervision that the

 2-4     defendant serve a term of at least 30 days confinement in jail.

 2-5           SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies

 2-6     only to the punishment for an offense committed on or after the

 2-7     effective date of this Act.  For purposes of this section, an

 2-8     offense is committed before the effective date of this Act if any

 2-9     element of the offense occurs before the effective date.

2-10           (b)  The punishment for an offense committed before the

2-11     effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the

2-12     offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect

2-13     for that purpose.

2-14           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-15           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-16     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-17     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-18     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-19     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.