By Driver, Garcia H.B. No. 319
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the penalty for tampering with certain governmental
1-3 records.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 37.01(2), Penal Code, is amended to read
1-6 as follows:
1-7 (2) "Governmental record" means:
1-8 (A) anything belonging to, received by, or kept
1-9 by government for information, including a court record;
1-10 (B) anything required by law to be kept by
1-11 others for information of government; [or]
1-12 (C) a license, certificate, permit, seal, title,
1-13 letter of patent, or similar document issued by government, by
1-14 another state, or by the United States; or
1-15 (D) a standard proof of motor vehicle liability
1-16 insurance form described by Section 601.081, Transportation Code, a
1-17 certificate of an insurance company described by Section 601.083 of
1-18 that code, a document purporting to be such a form or certificate
1-19 that is not issued by an insurer authorized to write motor vehicle
1-20 liability insurance in this state, an electronic submission in a
1-21 form described by Section 502.153(i), Transportation Code, or an
1-22 evidence of financial responsibility described by Section 601.053
1-23 of that code.
1-24 SECTION 2. Sections 37.10(c) and (d), Penal Code, are
2-1 amended to read as follows:
2-2 (c)(1) Except as provided by Subdivision (2) and by [in]
2-3 Subsection (d), an offense under this section is a Class A
2-4 misdemeanor unless the actor's intent is to defraud or harm
2-5 another, in which event the offense is a state jail felony.
2-6 (2) [(d)] An offense under this section is a felony of
2-7 the third degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that
2-8 the governmental record was a license, certificate, permit, seal,
2-9 title, letter of patent, or similar document issued by government,
2-10 by another state, or by the United States, unless the actor's
2-11 intent is to defraud or harm another, in which event the offense is
2-12 a felony of the second degree.
2-13 (d) An offense under this section, if it is shown on the
2-14 trial of the offense that the governmental record is described by
2-15 Section 37.01(2)(D), is:
2-16 (1) a Class B misdemeanor if the offense is committed
2-17 under Subsection (a)(2) or Subsection (a)(5) and the defendant is
2-18 convicted of presenting or using the record;
2-19 (2) a felony of the third degree if the offense is
2-20 committed under:
2-21 (A) Subsection (a)(1), (3), (4), or (6); or
2-22 (B) Subsection (a)(2) or (5) and the defendant
2-23 is convicted of making the record; and
2-24 (3) a felony of the second degree, notwithstanding
2-25 Subdivisions (1) and (2), if the actor's intent in committing the
2-26 offense was to defraud or harm another.
2-27 SECTION 3. Section 521.451, Transportation Code, is amended
3-1 to read as follows:
3-2 Sec. 521.451. GENERAL VIOLATION. (a) Except as provided by
3-3 Section 521.452, a person may not:
3-4 (1) display, cause or permit to be displayed, or have
3-5 in the person's possession a driver's license or certificate that
3-6 the person knows is fictitious or has been canceled, revoked,
3-7 suspended, or altered;
3-8 (2) lend the person's driver's license or certificate
3-9 to another person or knowingly permit another person to use the
3-10 person's driver's license or certificate;
3-11 (3) display or represent as the person's own a
3-12 driver's license or certificate not issued to the person;
3-13 (4) fail or refuse to surrender to the department on
3-14 demand a driver's license or certificate that has been canceled,
3-15 suspended, or revoked;
3-16 (5) possess more than one currently valid driver's
3-17 license or more than one currently valid certificate; or
3-18 (6) in an application for an original, renewal, or
3-19 duplicate driver's license or certificate:
3-20 (A) provide a false name, false address, or a
3-21 counterfeit document; or
3-22 (B) knowingly make a false statement, conceal a
3-23 material fact, or otherwise commit fraud.
3-24 (b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
3-25 SECTION 4. Sections 601.087 and 601.196, Transportation
3-26 Code, are repealed.
3-27 SECTION 5. (a) The repeal by this Act of Section 601.196,
4-1 Transportation Code, does not apply to an offense committed under
4-2 that section before the effective date of the repeal. For purposes
4-3 of this section, an offense is committed before the effective date
4-4 of the repeal if any element of the offense occurs before that
4-5 date.
4-6 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of the
4-7 repeal is covered by Section 601.196, Transportation Code, as it
4-8 existed on the date on which the offense was committed, and the
4-9 former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-10 SECTION 6. (a) The change in law made by this Act to
4-11 Chapter 37, Penal Code, applies only to an offense committed on or
4-12 after the effective date of this Act. For purposes of this
4-13 section, an offense is committed before the effective date of this
4-14 Act if any element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
4-15 (b) An offense under Chapter 37, Penal Code, committed
4-16 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
4-17 effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
4-18 continued in effect for that purpose.
4-19 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-20 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
4-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.