1-1     By:  Eiland (Senate Sponsor - Patterson)               H.B. No. 449

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 1, 1997;

 1-3     April 2, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on State

 1-4     Affairs; April 24, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:

 1-5     Yeas 13, Nays 0; April 24, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to the control of and disabling of gambling devices,

 1-9     equipment, or paraphernalia while an ocean-going vessel is in the

1-10     territorial waters of this state.

1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-12           SECTION 1.  Section 47.09(b), Penal Code, is amended to read

1-13     as follows:

1-14           (b)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under

1-15     Sections 47.04, 47.06(a), and 47.06(c) that the gambling device,

1-16     equipment, or paraphernalia is aboard an ocean-going vessel that

1-17     enters the territorial waters of this state to call at a port in

1-18     this state if:

1-19                 (1)  before the vessel enters the territorial waters of

1-20     this state, the district attorney or, if there is no district

1-21     attorney, the county attorney for the county in which the port is

1-22     located receives notice of the existence of the device, equipment,

1-23     or paraphernalia on board the vessel and of the anticipated dates

1-24     on which the vessel will enter and leave the territorial waters of

1-25     this state;

1-26                 (2)  except as permitted by Subdivision (3), at all

1-27     times while the vessel is in the territorial waters of this state:

1-28                       (A)  the portion of the vessel in which the

1-29     device, equipment, or paraphernalia is located is locked or

1-30     otherwise physically secured in a manner that makes the area

1-31     inaccessible to anyone other than the master and crew of the vessel

1-32     [at all times while the vessel is in the territorial waters of this

1-33     state]; or

1-34                       (B)  all devices, equipment, or paraphernalia

1-35     are:

1-36                             (i)  covered in a manner that prevents the

1-37     use or viewing of the device, equipment, or paraphernalia and that

1-38     allows only the master or crew of the vessel to uncover the device,

1-39     equipment, or paraphernalia; and

1-40                             (ii)  disabled, electronically or by

1-41     another method, from a remote and secured area of the vessel in a

1-42     manner that allows only the master or crew of the vessel to remove

1-43     any disabling device;

1-44                 (3)  at all times while the vessel is in the

1-45     territorial waters of this state, no person other than the master

1-46     and crew of the vessel is permitted, except for the purposes of

1-47     inspecting or repairing the device, equipment, or paraphernalia,

1-48     to:

1-49                       (A)  enter or view the portion of the vessel in

1-50     which the device, equipment, or paraphernalia is locked or secured

1-51     under Subdivision (2)(A); or

1-52                       (B)  uncover the device, equipment, or

1-53     paraphernalia or remove any disabling device located on the vessel

1-54     [located while the vessel is in the territorial waters of this

1-55     state]; and

1-56                 (4)  the device, equipment, or paraphernalia is not

1-57     used for gambling or other gaming purposes while the vessel is in

1-58     the territorial waters of this state.

1-59           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies

1-60     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this

1-61     Act.  For the purposes of this section, an offense is committed

1-62     before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense

1-63     occurs before that date.

1-64           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this

 2-1     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,

 2-2     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

 2-3           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 2-4     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 2-5     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 2-6     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 2-7     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

 2-8     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

 2-9     passage, and it is so enacted.

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