By Keel H.B. No. 702
75R4202 GWK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain technical corrections to the Penal Code.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Sections 46.03(b) and (d), Penal Code, are
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (b) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsections
1-7 (a)(1)-(4) that the actor possessed a firearm while in the actual
1-8 discharge of his official duties as a [peace officer or a] member
1-9 of the armed forces or national guard or a guard employed by a
1-10 penal institution, or an officer of the court.
1-11 (d) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(5)
1-12 that the actor possessed a firearm or club while traveling to or
1-13 from the actor's place of assignment or in the actual discharge of
1-14 duties as:
1-15 (1) a member of the armed forces or national guard;
1-16 (2) a guard employed by a penal institution; or
1-17 (3) a security officer commissioned by the Texas Board
1-18 of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies if:
1-19 (A) the actor is wearing a distinctive uniform;
1-20 and
1-21 (B) the firearm or club is in plain view; or
1-22 (4) [(5)] a security officer who holds a personal
1-23 protection authorization under the Private Investigators and
1-24 Private Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas
2-1 Civil Statutes).
2-2 SECTION 2. The section heading to Section 49.03, Penal Code,
2-3 is amended to read as follows:
2-4 Sec. 49.03. CONSUMPTION [OR POSSESSION] OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE
2-5 IN MOTOR VEHICLE.
2-6 SECTION 3. Section 71.02(b), Penal Code, as amended by
2-7 Chapters 761 and 900, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular
2-8 Session, 1993, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
2-9 (b) Except as provided in Subsections (c) and (d) [of this
2-10 section], an offense under this section is one category higher than
2-11 the most serious offense listed in [Subdivisions (1) through (10)
2-12 of] Subsection (a) [of this section] that was committed, and if
2-13 the most serious offense is a Class A misdemeanor, the offense is a
2-14 state jail felony [felony of the third degree], except that if the
2-15 most serious offense is a felony of the first degree, the offense
2-16 is a felony of the first degree.
2-17 SECTION 4. Section 71.02(c), Penal Code, as amended by
2-18 Chapters 761 and 900, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular
2-19 Session, 1993, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
2-20 (c) Conspiring to commit an offense under this section is of
2-21 the same degree as the most serious offense listed in [Subdivisions
2-22 (1) through (10) of] Subsection (a) [of this section] that the
2-23 person conspired to commit.
2-24 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
2-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-2 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-3 passage, and it is so enacted.