By Raymond                                      H.B. No. 3209

      75R8872 GWK-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the punishment for certain assaults committed against

 1-3     rules officials assigned to officiate interschool athletic

 1-4     competitions.

 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-6           SECTION 1.  Section 22.01, Penal Code, is amended to read as

 1-7     follows:

 1-8           Sec. 22.01.  Assault.  (a)  A person commits an offense if

 1-9     the person:

1-10                 (1)  intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes

1-11     bodily injury to another, including the person's spouse;

1-12                 (2)  intentionally or knowingly threatens another with

1-13     imminent bodily injury, including the person's spouse; or

1-14                 (3)  intentionally or knowingly causes physical contact

1-15     with another when the person knows or should reasonably believe

1-16     that the other will regard the contact as offensive or provocative.

1-17           (b)  An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A

1-18     misdemeanor, except that the offense is:

1-19                 (1)  a felony of the third degree if the offense is

1-20     committed against a person the actor knows is a public servant

1-21     while the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty,

1-22     or in retaliation for or on account of an exercise of official

1-23     power or performance of an official duty as a public servant; or

1-24                 (2)  [.]

 2-1           [(b)  An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is] a state jail

 2-2     felony if:

 2-3                       (A) [Class A misdemeanor unless] it is shown on

 2-4     the trial of the offense that the offense was committed against a

 2-5     family member and that the defendant has been previously convicted

 2-6     of an offense against a family member under this section two or

 2-7     more times; or

 2-8                       (B)  it is committed against a person the actor

 2-9     knows is a rules official assigned to officiate an interschool

2-10     athletic competition that is sanctioned by the University

2-11     Interscholastic League and the offense is committed while the

2-12     official is performing duties within the scope of the assignment or

2-13     in retaliation for or on account of the official's performance of a

2-14     duty within the scope of the assignment [, in which event the

2-15     offense is a state jail felony].

2-16           (c)  An offense under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) is a Class C

2-17     misdemeanor, except that:

2-18                 (1)  an offense under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) is a

2-19     Class A misdemeanor if the offense is committed against a person

2-20     the actor knows is a rules official assigned to officiate an

2-21     interschool athletic competition that is sanctioned by the

2-22     University Interscholastic League and the offense is committed

2-23     while the official is performing duties within the scope of the

2-24     assignment or in retaliation for or on account of the official's

2-25     performance of a duty within the scope of the assignment; and

2-26                 (2)  an offense under Subsection (a)(3) is a Class A

2-27     misdemeanor if the offense was committed against an elderly

 3-1     individual or disabled individual, as those terms are defined by

 3-2     Section 22.04.

 3-3           (d)  For purposes of Subsection (b)(1), the actor is presumed

 3-4     to have known the person assaulted was a public servant if the

 3-5     person was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the

 3-6     person's employment as a public servant.

 3-7           (e) [(d)]  In this section, "family" has the meaning assigned

 3-8     by Section 71.01, Family Code.

 3-9           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies

3-10     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this

3-11     Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before

3-12     the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs

3-13     before the effective date.

3-14           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this

3-15     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,

3-16     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

3-17           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

3-18           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

3-19     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

3-20     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

3-21     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

3-22     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.