1-1 By: West S.B. No. 89
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed November 12, 1996; January 14, 1997,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
1-4 April 10, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 10, 1997,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 89 By: West
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to a fictitious, forged, or counterfeit driver's license,
1-11 personal identification certificate, or other instrument; providing
1-12 penalties.
1-13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14 SECTION 1. Section 521.453, Transportation Code, is amended
1-15 by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding Subsection (g)
1-16 to read as follows:
1-17 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (f), a person under the
1-18 age of 21 years commits an offense if the person [sells,
1-19 manufactures, distributes, or] possesses, with the intent to
1-20 represent that the person is 21 years of age or older, a document
1-21 that is deceptively similar to a driver's license or a personal
1-22 identification certificate [issued by the department] unless the
1-23 document displays the statement "NOT A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT"
1-24 diagonally printed clearly and indelibly on both the front and back
1-25 of the document in solid red capital letters at least one-fourth
1-26 inch in height.
1-27 (b) For purposes of this section, a document is deceptively
1-28 similar to a driver's license or personal identification
1-29 certificate if a reasonable person would assume that it was issued
1-30 by the department, another agency of this state, another state, or
1-31 the United States.
1-32 (d) For purposes of this section, an [An] offense under
1-33 Subsection (a) is a Class C misdemeanor[, except that if it is
1-34 shown at the trial of an offense under Subsection (a) relating to
1-35 the sale, manufacture, or distribution of a document that the
1-36 person has been previously convicted of any offense under that
1-37 subsection, the offense is a Class B misdemeanor].
1-38 (g) In this section:
1-39 (1) "Driver's license" includes a driver's license
1-40 issued by another state or by the United States.
1-41 (2) "Personal identification certificate" means a
1-42 personal identification certificate issued by the department, by
1-43 another agency of this state, by another state, or by the United
1-44 States.
1-45 SECTION 2. Section 521.456, Transportation Code, is amended
1-46 to read as follows:
1-47 Sec. 521.456. DELIVERY OR MANUFACTURE OF COUNTERFEIT
1-48 INSTRUMENT. (a) A person commits an offense if the person
1-49 possesses with the intent to sell, distribute, or deliver a forged
1-50 or counterfeit instrument that is not printed, manufactured, or
1-51 made by or under the direction of, or issued, sold, or circulated
1-52 by or under the direction of, a person, board, agency, or authority
1-53 authorized to do so under this chapter or under the laws of the
1-54 United States, another state, or a Canadian province. An offense
1-55 under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
1-56 (b) A person commits an offense if the person manufactures
1-57 or produces with the intent to sell, distribute, or deliver
1-58 [prints, engraves, copies, photographs, makes, issues, sells,
1-59 circulates, or passes] a forged or counterfeit instrument that the
1-60 person knows is not printed, manufactured, or made by or under the
1-61 direction of, or issued, sold, or circulated by or under the
1-62 direction of, a person, board, agency, or authority authorized to
1-63 do so under this chapter or under the laws of the United States,
1-64 another state, or a Canadian province. An offense under this
2-1 subsection is a felony of the third degree.
2-2 (c) [(b)] A person commits an offense if the person
2-3 possesses with the intent to use, sell, circulate, or pass a forged
2-4 or counterfeit instrument that is not printed, manufactured, or
2-5 made by or under the direction of, or issued, sold, or circulated
2-6 by or under the direction of, a person, board, agency, or authority
2-7 authorized to do so under this chapter or under the laws of the
2-8 United States, another state, or a Canadian province.
2-9 (d) [(c) A person commits an offense if the person possesses
2-10 all or part of a stamp, dye, plate, negative, machine, or other
2-11 device that is used or designed for use in forging or
2-12 counterfeiting an instrument.]
2-13 [(d) An offense under this section is a felony punishable by
2-14 imprisonment in the institutional division of the State Department
2-15 of Criminal Justice for not less than two years or more than five
2-16 years.]
2-17 [(e) A court that has jurisdiction over an offense under
2-18 this section, or a district or county attorney, may subpoena any
2-19 person and compel the person's attendance as a witness to testify
2-20 regarding an offense under this section. A person who is summoned
2-21 and examined may not be prosecuted for the offense about which the
2-22 person testifies.]
2-23 [(f)] For purposes of this section, "instrument" means a
2-24 driver's license, driver's license form, personal identification
2-25 certificate, stamp, permit, license, official signature,
2-26 certificate, evidence of fee payment, or any other instrument.
2-27 SECTION 3. Section 37.01, Penal Code, is amended to read as
2-28 follows:
2-29 Sec. 37.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
2-30 (1) "Governmental record" means:
2-31 (A) anything belonging to, received by, or kept
2-32 by government for information;
2-33 (B) anything required by law to be kept by
2-34 others for information of government; or
2-35 (C) a license, certificate, permit, seal, title,
2-36 or similar document issued by government, by another state, or by
2-37 the United States.
2-38 (2) "Statement" means any representation of fact.
2-39 SECTION 4. Subsection (d), Section 37.10, Penal Code, is
2-40 amended to read as follows:
2-41 (d) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
2-42 degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
2-43 governmental record was a license, certificate, permit, seal,
2-44 title, or similar document issued by government, by another state,
2-45 or by the United States, unless the actor's intent is to defraud or
2-46 harm another, in which event the offense is a felony of the second
2-47 degree.
2-48 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997. The
2-49 changes in law made by this Act apply only to an offense committed
2-50 on or after September 1, 1997. An offense committed before
2-51 September 1, 1997, is covered by the law in effect when the offense
2-52 was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
2-53 purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
2-54 before September 1, 1997, if any element of the offense occurred
2-55 before that date.
2-56 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
2-57 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-58 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-59 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-60 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-61 * * * * *