1-1 By: Merritt, Ramsay, et al. (Senate Sponsor-Harris) H.B. No. 793
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 9, 1997;
1-3 May 12, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Jurisprudence; May 17, 1997, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 17, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to notice that entry on property is forbidden for the
1-9 purpose of prosecuting the offense of trespass.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 30.05(b), Penal Code, is amended by
1-12 amending Subdivision (2) and by adding Subdivision (4) to read as
1-13 follows:
1-14 (2) "Notice" means:
1-15 (A) oral or written communication by the owner
1-16 or someone with apparent authority to act for the owner;
1-17 (B) fencing or other enclosure obviously
1-18 designed to exclude intruders or to contain livestock;
1-19 (C) a sign or signs posted on the property or at
1-20 the entrance to the building, reasonably likely to come to the
1-21 attention of intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden; [or]
1-22 (D) the placement of identifying purple paint
1-23 marks on trees or posts on the property, provided that the marks
1-24 are:
1-25 (i) vertical lines of not less than eight
1-26 inches in length and not less than one inch in width;
1-27 (ii) placed so that the bottom of the mark
1-28 is not less than three feet from the ground or more than five feet
1-29 from the ground; and
1-30 (iii) placed at locations that are readily
1-31 visible to any person approaching the property and no more than:
1-32 (a) 100 feet apart on
1-33 forest land; or
1-34 (b) 1,000 feet apart on
1-35 land other than forest land; or
1-36 (E) the visible presence on the property of a
1-37 crop grown for human consumption that is under cultivation, in the
1-38 process of being harvested, or marketable if harvested at the time
1-39 of entry.
1-40 (4) "Forest land" means land on which the trees are
1-41 potentially valuable for timber products.
1-42 SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
1-43 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
1-44 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
1-45 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
1-46 before the effective date.
1-47 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
1-48 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
1-49 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
1-50 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
1-51 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
1-52 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-53 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-54 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-55 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-56 * * * * *