1-1 By: Driver, Garcia (Senate Sponsor - Cain) H.B. No. 319
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 1999;
1-3 May 10, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on Economic
1-4 Development; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the penalty for tampering with certain governmental
1-9 records.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 37.01(2), Penal Code, is amended to read
1-12 as follows:
1-13 (2) "Governmental record" means:
1-14 (A) anything belonging to, received by, or kept
1-15 by government for information, including a court record;
1-16 (B) anything required by law to be kept by
1-17 others for information of government; [or]
1-18 (C) a license, certificate, permit, seal, title,
1-19 letter of patent, or similar document issued by government, by
1-20 another state, or by the United States; or
1-21 (D) a standard proof of motor vehicle liability
1-22 insurance form described by Section 601.081, Transportation Code, a
1-23 certificate of an insurance company described by Section 601.083 of
1-24 that code, a document purporting to be such a form or certificate
1-25 that is not issued by an insurer authorized to write motor vehicle
1-26 liability insurance in this state, an electronic submission in a
1-27 form described by Section 502.153(i), Transportation Code, or an
1-28 evidence of financial responsibility described by Section 601.053
1-29 of that code.
1-30 SECTION 2. Sections 37.10(c) and (d), Penal Code, are
1-31 amended to read as follows:
1-32 (c)(1) Except as provided by Subdivision (2) and by [in]
1-33 Subsection (d), an offense under this section is a Class A
1-34 misdemeanor unless the actor's intent is to defraud or harm
1-35 another, in which event the offense is a state jail felony.
1-36 (2) [(d)] An offense under this section is a felony of
1-37 the third degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that
1-38 the governmental record was a license, certificate, permit, seal,
1-39 title, letter of patent, or similar document issued by government,
1-40 by another state, or by the United States, unless the actor's
1-41 intent is to defraud or harm another, in which event the offense is
1-42 a felony of the second degree.
1-43 (d) An offense under this section, if it is shown on the
1-44 trial of the offense that the governmental record is described by
1-45 Section 37.01(2)(D), is:
1-46 (1) a Class B misdemeanor if the offense is committed
1-47 under Subsection (a)(2) or Subsection (a)(5) and the defendant is
1-48 convicted of presenting or using the record;
1-49 (2) a felony of the third degree if the offense is
1-50 committed under:
1-51 (A) Subsection (a)(1), (3), (4), or (6); or
1-52 (B) Subsection (a)(2) or (5) and the defendant
1-53 is convicted of making the record; and
1-54 (3) a felony of the second degree, notwithstanding
1-55 Subdivisions (1) and (2), if the actor's intent in committing the
1-56 offense was to defraud or harm another.
1-57 SECTION 3. Section 521.451, Transportation Code, is amended
1-58 to read as follows:
1-59 Sec. 521.451. GENERAL VIOLATION. (a) Except as provided by
1-60 Section 521.452, a person may not:
1-61 (1) display, cause or permit to be displayed, or have
1-62 in the person's possession a driver's license or certificate that
1-63 the person knows is fictitious or has been canceled, revoked,
1-64 suspended, or altered;
2-1 (2) lend the person's driver's license or certificate
2-2 to another person or knowingly permit another person to use the
2-3 person's driver's license or certificate;
2-4 (3) display or represent as the person's own a
2-5 driver's license or certificate not issued to the person;
2-6 (4) fail or refuse to surrender to the department on
2-7 demand a driver's license or certificate that has been canceled,
2-8 suspended, or revoked;
2-9 (5) possess more than one currently valid driver's
2-10 license or more than one currently valid certificate; or
2-11 (6) in an application for an original, renewal, or
2-12 duplicate driver's license or certificate:
2-13 (A) provide a false name, false address, or a
2-14 counterfeit document; or
2-15 (B) knowingly make a false statement, conceal a
2-16 material fact, or otherwise commit fraud.
2-17 (b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
2-18 SECTION 4. Sections 601.087 and 601.196, Transportation
2-19 Code, are repealed.
2-20 SECTION 5. (a) The repeal by this Act of Section 601.196,
2-21 Transportation Code, does not apply to an offense committed under
2-22 that section before the effective date of the repeal. For purposes
2-23 of this section, an offense is committed before the effective date
2-24 of the repeal if any element of the offense occurs before that
2-25 date.
2-26 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of the
2-27 repeal is covered by Section 601.196, Transportation Code, as it
2-28 existed on the date on which the offense was committed, and the
2-29 former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-30 SECTION 6. (a) The change in law made by this Act to
2-31 Chapter 37, Penal Code, applies only to an offense committed on or
2-32 after the effective date of this Act. For purposes of this
2-33 section, an offense is committed before the effective date of this
2-34 Act if any element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
2-35 (b) An offense under Chapter 37, Penal Code, committed
2-36 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
2-37 effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
2-38 continued in effect for that purpose.
2-39 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-40 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
2-41 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-42 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-43 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-44 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-45 * * * * *