By Chavez H.B. No. 2516
75R6338 JMC-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the prosecution and punishment of the offense of
1-3 disorderly conduct.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 42.01(a) and (d), Penal Code, are
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or
1-8 knowingly:
1-9 (1) uses abusive, indecent, profane, or vulgar
1-10 language in a public place, and the language by its very utterance
1-11 tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace;
1-12 (2) makes an offensive gesture or display in a public
1-13 place, and the gesture or display tends to incite an immediate
1-14 breach of the peace;
1-15 (3) creates, by chemical means, a noxious and
1-16 unreasonable odor in a public place;
1-17 (4) abuses or threatens a person in a public place in
1-18 an obviously offensive manner;
1-19 (5) makes unreasonable noise in a public place other
1-20 than a sport shooting range, as defined by Section 250.001, Local
1-21 Government Code, or in or near a private residence that he has no
1-22 right to occupy;
1-23 (6) fights with another in a public place;
1-24 (7) enters on the property of another and for a lewd
2-1 or unlawful purpose looks into a dwelling on the property through
2-2 any window or other opening in the dwelling;
2-3 (8) while on the premises of a hotel or comparable
2-4 establishment, for a lewd or unlawful purpose looks into a guest
2-5 room not his own through a window or other opening in the room;
2-6 (9) discharges a firearm in a public place other than
2-7 a public road or a sport shooting range, as defined by Section
2-8 250.001, Local Government Code;
2-9 (10) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a
2-10 public place in a manner calculated to alarm;
2-11 (11) discharges a firearm on or across a public road;
2-12 [or]
2-13 (12) exposes his anus or genitals in a public place
2-14 and is reckless about whether another may be present who will be
2-15 offended or alarmed by his act; or
2-16 (13) while on the premises of a public place, for a
2-17 lewd or unlawful purpose looks into an area such as a restroom or
2-18 shower stall or a changing or dressing room that is designed to
2-19 provide privacy to a person using the area.
2-20 (d) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor,
2-21 except that:
2-22 (1) an offense [unless committed] under Subsection
2-23 (a)(9) or (a)(10)[, in which event it] is a Class B misdemeanor;
2-24 and
2-25 (2) an offense under Subsection (a)(7), (a)(8),
2-26 (a)(12), or (a)(13) is a Class A misdemeanor.
2-27 SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
3-1 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of
3-2 this Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed
3-3 before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
3-4 occurs before that date.
3-5 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-6 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-7 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-8 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-9 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.