By Hochberg                                            H.B. No. 271
         Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
         Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the prosecution of and punishment for an offense
 1-3     motivated by bias or prejudice.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Article 42.014, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           Art. 42.014.  Finding that offense was committed because of
 1-8     bias or prejudice.  In the punishment phase of the trial of an
 1-9     offense under the Penal Code, if the judge or jury [court]
1-10     determines that the defendant intentionally selected the person
1-11     against whom the offense was committed or intentionally selected
1-12     property damaged or affected as a result of the offense because of
1-13     the actual or perceived race, age, gender, color, disability,
1-14     religion, national origin or ancestry, or sexual orientation of the
1-15     person against whom the offense was committed or the owner or the
1-16     occupant of the property [victim primarily because of the
1-17     defendant's bias or prejudice against a group], the judge [court]
1-18     shall make an affirmative finding of that fact and enter the
1-19     affirmative finding in the judgment of that case.
1-20           SECTION 2.   (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
1-21     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
 2-1     Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
 2-2     the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
 2-3     before the effective date.
 2-4           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
 2-5     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
 2-6     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
 2-7           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-8           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-9     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-10     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-11     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-12     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.