By Averitt                                             H.B. No. 762

         75R4116 JSA-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to offenses involving the preparation, sale, or

 1-3     distribution of certain academic materials for profit.

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

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 32, Penal Code, is amended

 1-6     by adding Section 32.49 to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 32.49.  DECEPTIVE PREPARATION AND MARKETING OF ACADEMIC

 1-8     PRODUCT.  (a)  For purposes of this section:

 1-9                 (1)  "Academic product" means a term paper, thesis,

1-10     dissertation, essay, report, recording, work of art, or other

1-11     written, recorded, pictorial, or artistic product or material

1-12     submitted or intended to be submitted by a person to satisfy an

1-13     academic requirement of the person.

1-14                 (2)  "Academic requirement" means a requirement or

1-15     prerequisite to receive course credit or to complete a course of

1-16     study or degree, diploma, or certificate program at an institution

1-17     of higher education.

1-18                 (3)  "Institution of higher education" means an

1-19     institution of higher education or private or independent

1-20     institution of higher education as those terms are defined by

1-21     Section 61.003, Education Code, or a private postsecondary

1-22     educational institution as that term is defined by Section 61.302,

1-23     Education Code.

1-24           (b)  A person commits an offense if, with intent to make a

 2-1     profit, the person prepares, sells, offers or advertises for sale,

 2-2     or delivers to another person an academic product when the person

 2-3     knows, or should reasonably have known, that a person intends to

 2-4     submit or use the academic product to satisfy an academic

 2-5     requirement of a person other than the person who prepared the

 2-6     product.

 2-7           (c)  A person commits an offense if, with intent to induce

 2-8     another person to enter into an agreement or obligation to  obtain

 2-9     or have prepared an academic product, the person knowingly makes or

2-10     disseminates a written or oral statement that the person will

2-11     prepare or cause to be prepared an academic product to be sold for

2-12     use in satisfying an academic requirement of a person other than

2-13     the person who prepared the product.

2-14           (d)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that

2-15     the actor's conduct consisted solely of action taken as an employee

2-16     of an institution of higher education in providing instruction,

2-17     counseling, or tutoring in research or writing to students of the

2-18     institution.

2-19           (e)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that

2-20     the actor's conduct consisted solely of offering or providing

2-21     tutorial or editing assistance to another person in connection with

2-22     the other person's preparation of an academic product to satisfy

2-23     the other person's academic requirement, and the actor does not

2-24     offer or provide substantial preparation, writing, or research in

2-25     the production of the academic product.

2-26           (f)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that

2-27     the actor's conduct consisted solely of typing, transcribing, or

 3-1     reproducing a manuscript for a fee, or of offering to do so.

 3-2           (g)  An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

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

 3-4           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-5     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-6     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-7     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-8     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.