By Merritt, Ramsay, et al.                             H.B. No. 793

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to notice that entry on property is forbidden for the

 1-3     purpose of prosecuting the offense of trespass.

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

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 30.05(b), Penal Code, is amended by

 1-6     amending Subdivision (2) and by adding Subdivision (4) to read as

 1-7     follows:

 1-8                 (2)  "Notice" means:

 1-9                       (A)  oral or written communication by the owner

1-10     or someone with apparent authority to act for the owner;

1-11                       (B)  fencing or other enclosure obviously

1-12     designed to exclude intruders or to contain livestock;

1-13                       (C)  a sign or signs posted on the property or at

1-14     the entrance to the building, reasonably likely to come to the

1-15     attention of intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden;  [or]

1-16                       (D)  the placement of identifying purple paint

1-17     marks on trees or posts on the property, provided that the marks

1-18     are:

1-19                             (i)  vertical lines of not less than eight

1-20     inches in length and not less than one inch in width;

1-21                             (ii)  placed so that the bottom of the mark

1-22     is not less than three feet from the ground or more than five feet

1-23     from the ground; and

1-24                             (iii)  placed at locations that are readily

 2-1     visible to any person approaching the property and no more than:

 2-2                                            (a)  100 feet apart on

 2-3     forest land; or

 2-4                                            (b)  1,000 feet apart on

 2-5     land other than forest land; or

 2-6                       (E)  the visible presence on the property of a

 2-7     crop grown for human consumption that is under cultivation, in the

 2-8     process of being harvested, or marketable if harvested at the time

 2-9     of entry.

2-10                 (4)  "Forest land" means land on which the trees are

2-11     potentially valuable for timber products.

2-12           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies

2-13     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this

2-14     Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before

2-15     the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs

2-16     before the effective date.

2-17           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this

2-18     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,

2-19     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

2-20           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-21           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-22     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-23     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-24     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-25     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.