By Culberson                                     H.B. No. 550

      75R1917 JMC-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the punishment of certain defendants convicted of

 1-3     attempted murder.

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

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 15.01, Penal Code, is amended by amending

 1-6     Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:

 1-7           (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), an [An] offense

 1-8     under this section is one category lower than the offense

 1-9     attempted, and if the offense attempted is a state jail felony, the

1-10     offense is a Class A misdemeanor.

1-11           (e)  An offense under this section is a felony of the first

1-12     degree if:

1-13                 (1)  the offense attempted is an offense punishable as

1-14     a felony of the first degree under Section 19.02; and

1-15                 (2)  the victim suffers serious bodily injury as a

1-16     result of the commission of the offense.

1-17           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies

1-18     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this

1-19     Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before

1-20     the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs

1-21     before that date.

1-22           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this

1-23     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,

1-24     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

 2-1           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 2-2           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

 2-3     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 2-4     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 2-5     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 2-6     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.