1-1     By:  Averitt (Senate Sponsor - Bivins)                 H.B. No. 762

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

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

 1-4     Education; May 15, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:

 1-5     Yeas 7, Nays 1; May 15, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to offenses involving the preparation, sale, or

 1-9     distribution of certain academic materials for profit.

1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-11           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 32, Penal Code, is amended

1-12     by adding Section 32.49 to read as follows:

1-13           Sec. 32.49.  DECEPTIVE PREPARATION AND MARKETING OF ACADEMIC

1-14     PRODUCT.  (a)  For purposes of this section:

1-15                 (1)  "Academic product" means a term paper, thesis,

1-16     dissertation, essay, report, recording, work of art, or other

1-17     written, recorded, pictorial, or artistic product or material

1-18     submitted or intended to be submitted by a person to satisfy an

1-19     academic requirement of the person.

1-20                 (2)  "Academic requirement" means a requirement or

1-21     prerequisite to receive course credit or to complete a course of

1-22     study or degree, diploma, or certificate program at an institution

1-23     of higher education.

1-24                 (3)  "Institution of higher education" means an

1-25     institution of higher education or private or independent

1-26     institution of higher education as those terms are defined by

1-27     Section 61.003, Education Code, or a private postsecondary

1-28     educational institution as that term is defined by Section 61.302,

1-29     Education Code.

1-30           (b)  A person commits an offense if, with intent to make a

1-31     profit, the person prepares, sells, offers or advertises for sale,

1-32     or delivers to another person an academic product when the person

1-33     knows, or should reasonably have known, that a person intends to

1-34     submit or use the academic product to satisfy an academic

1-35     requirement of a person other than the person who prepared the

1-36     product.

1-37           (c)  A person commits an offense if, with intent to induce

1-38     another person to enter into an agreement or obligation to  obtain

1-39     or have prepared an academic product, the person knowingly makes or

1-40     disseminates a written or oral statement that the person will

1-41     prepare or cause to be prepared an academic product to be sold for

1-42     use in satisfying an academic requirement of a person other than

1-43     the person who prepared the product.

1-44           (d)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that

1-45     the actor's conduct consisted solely of action taken as an employee

1-46     of an institution of higher education in providing instruction,

1-47     counseling, or tutoring in research or writing to students of the

1-48     institution.

1-49           (e)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that

1-50     the actor's conduct consisted solely of offering or providing

1-51     tutorial or editing assistance to another person in connection with

1-52     the other person's preparation of an academic product to satisfy

1-53     the other person's academic requirement, and the actor does not

1-54     offer or provide substantial preparation, writing, or research in

1-55     the production of the academic product.

1-56           (f)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that

1-57     the actor's conduct consisted solely of typing, transcribing, or

1-58     reproducing a manuscript for a fee, or of offering to do so.

1-59           (g)  An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

1-60           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-61           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-62     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-63     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-64     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 2-1     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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