By: West S.B. No. 89
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to a fictitious, forged, or counterfeit driver's license,
1-2 personal identification certificate, or other instrument; providing
1-3 penalties.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 521.453, Transportation Code, is amended
1-6 by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding Subsection (g)
1-7 to read as follows:
1-8 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (f), a person under the
1-9 age of 21 years commits an offense if the person [sells,
1-10 manufactures, distributes, or] possesses, with the intent to
1-11 represent that the person is 21 years of age or older, a document
1-12 that is deceptively similar to a driver's license or a personal
1-13 identification certificate [issued by the department] unless the
1-14 document displays the statement "NOT A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT"
1-15 diagonally printed clearly and indelibly on both the front and back
1-16 of the document in solid red capital letters at least one-fourth
1-17 inch in height.
1-18 (b) For purposes of this section, a document is deceptively
1-19 similar to a driver's license or personal identification
1-20 certificate if a reasonable person would assume that it was issued
1-21 by the department, another agency of this state, another state, or
1-22 the United States.
1-23 (d) For purposes of this section, an [An] offense under
2-1 Subsection (a) is a Class C misdemeanor[, except that if it is
2-2 shown at the trial of an offense under Subsection (a) relating to
2-3 the sale, manufacture, or distribution of a document that the
2-4 person has been previously convicted of any offense under that
2-5 subsection, the offense is a Class B misdemeanor].
2-6 (g) In this section:
2-7 (1) "Driver's license" includes a driver's license
2-8 issued by another state or by the United States.
2-9 (2) "Personal identification certificate" means a
2-10 personal identification certificate issued by the department, by
2-11 another agency of this state, by another state, or by the United
2-12 States.
2-13 SECTION 2. Section 521.456, Transportation Code, is amended
2-14 to read as follows:
2-15 Sec. 521.456. DELIVERY OR MANUFACTURE OF COUNTERFEIT
2-16 INSTRUMENT. (a) A person commits an offense if the person
2-17 possesses with the intent to sell, distribute, or deliver a forged
2-18 or counterfeit instrument that is not printed, manufactured, or
2-19 made by or under the direction of, or issued, sold, or circulated
2-20 by or under the direction of, a person, board, agency, or authority
2-21 authorized to do so under this chapter or under the laws of the
2-22 United States, another state, or a Canadian province. An offense
2-23 under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
2-24 (b) A person commits an offense if the person manufactures
2-25 or produces with the intent to sell, distribute, or deliver
3-1 [prints, engraves, copies, photographs, makes, issues, sells,
3-2 circulates, or passes] a forged or counterfeit instrument that the
3-3 person knows is not printed, manufactured, or made by or under the
3-4 direction of, or issued, sold, or circulated by or under the
3-5 direction of, a person, board, agency, or authority authorized to
3-6 do so under this chapter or under the laws of the United States,
3-7 another state, or a Canadian province. An offense under this
3-8 subsection is a felony of the third degree.
3-9 (c) [(b)] A person commits an offense if the person
3-10 possesses with the intent to use, sell, circulate, or pass a forged
3-11 or counterfeit instrument that is not printed, manufactured, or
3-12 made by or under the direction of, or issued, sold, or circulated
3-13 by or under the direction of, a person, board, agency, or authority
3-14 authorized to do so under this chapter or under the laws of the
3-15 United States, another state, or a Canadian province.
3-16 (d) [(c) A person commits an offense if the person possesses
3-17 all or part of a stamp, dye, plate, negative, machine, or other
3-18 device that is used or designed for use in forging or
3-19 counterfeiting an instrument.]
3-20 [(d) An offense under this section is a felony punishable by
3-21 imprisonment in the institutional division of the State Department
3-22 of Criminal Justice for not less than two years or more than five
3-23 years.]
3-24 [(e) A court that has jurisdiction over an offense under
3-25 this section, or a district or county attorney, may subpoena any
4-1 person and compel the person's attendance as a witness to testify
4-2 regarding an offense under this section. A person who is summoned
4-3 and examined may not be prosecuted for the offense about which the
4-4 person testifies.]
4-5 [(f)] For purposes of this section, "instrument" means a
4-6 driver's license, driver's license form, personal identification
4-7 certificate, stamp, permit, license, official signature,
4-8 certificate, evidence of fee payment, or any other instrument.
4-9 SECTION 3. Section 37.01, Penal Code, is amended to read as
4-10 follows:
4-11 Sec. 37.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
4-12 (1) "Governmental record" means:
4-13 (A) anything belonging to, received by, or kept
4-14 by government for information;
4-15 (B) anything required by law to be kept by
4-16 others for information of government; or
4-17 (C) a license, certificate, permit, seal, title,
4-18 or similar document issued by government, by another state, or by
4-19 the United States.
4-20 (2) "Statement" means any representation of fact.
4-21 SECTION 4. Subsection (d), Section 37.10, Penal Code, is
4-22 amended to read as follows:
4-23 (d) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
4-24 degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
4-25 governmental record was a license, certificate, permit, seal,
5-1 title, or similar document issued by government, by another state,
5-2 or by the United States, unless the actor's intent is to defraud or
5-3 harm another, in which event the offense is a felony of the second
5-4 degree.
5-5 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997. The
5-6 changes in law made by this Act apply only to an offense committed
5-7 on or after September 1, 1997. An offense committed before
5-8 September 1, 1997, is covered by the law in effect when the offense
5-9 was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
5-10 purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
5-11 before September 1, 1997, if any element of the offense occurred
5-12 before that date.
5-13 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
5-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.