75R9564 GWK-D
By Merritt, Ramsay, et al. H.B. No. 793
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 793:
By Keel C.S.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;
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.