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.