By Wise H.B. No. 357
76R2291 KEL-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain obscenity
1-3 offenses and other offenses committed to further the commission of
1-4 obscenity offenses.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 25.08(c), Penal Code, is amended to read
1-7 as follows:
1-8 (c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
1-9 degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if
1-10 the actor commits the offense with intent to commit an offense
1-11 under Section 43.25.
1-12 SECTION 2. Subdivisions (2) and (7), Section 43.25(a), Penal
1-13 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-14 (2) "Sexual conduct" means sexual contact, actual or
1-15 simulated sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, sexual
1-16 bestiality, masturbation, sado-masochistic abuse, or lewd
1-17 exhibition of the genitals.
1-18 (7) "Deviate sexual intercourse" and "sexual contact"
1-19 have the meanings assigned [has the meaning defined] by Section
1-20 43.01.
1-21 SECTION 3. Section 43.25(f), Penal Code, is amended to read
1-22 as follows:
1-23 (f) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this
1-24 section that:
2-1 (1) [the defendant, in good faith, reasonably believed
2-2 that the child who engaged in the sexual conduct was 18 years of
2-3 age or older;]
2-4 [(2)] the defendant was the spouse of the child at the
2-5 time of the offense;
2-6 (2) [(3)] the conduct was for a bona fide educational,
2-7 medical, psychological, psychiatric, judicial, law enforcement, or
2-8 legislative purpose; or
2-9 (3) [(4)] the defendant is not more than two years
2-10 older than the child.
2-11 SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 43, Penal Code, is amended
2-12 by adding Section 43.27 to read as follows:
2-13 Sec. 43.27. DUTY TO REPORT. (a) For purposes of this
2-14 section, "visual material" has the meaning assigned by Section
2-15 43.26.
2-16 (b) A business that develops or processes visual material
2-17 and determines that the material may be evidence of a criminal
2-18 offense under this subchapter shall report the existence of the
2-19 visual material to a local law enforcement agency.
2-20 SECTION 5. Subdivision (2), Article 59.01, Code of Criminal
2-21 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
2-22 (2) "Contraband" means property of any nature,
2-23 including real, personal, tangible, or intangible, that is:
2-24 (A) used in the commission of:
2-25 (i) any first or second degree felony
2-26 under the Penal Code;
2-27 (ii) any felony under Section 38.04,
3-1 Subchapter B of Chapter 43, or Chapters 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 33A, or
3-2 35, Penal Code; or
3-3 (iii) any felony under The Securities Act
3-4 (Article 581-1 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
3-5 (B) used or intended to be used in the
3-6 commission of:
3-7 (i) any felony under Chapter 481, Health
3-8 and Safety Code (Texas Controlled Substances Act);
3-9 (ii) any felony under Chapter 483, Health
3-10 and Safety Code;
3-11 (iii) a felony under Chapter 153, Finance
3-12 Code [Article 350, Revised Statutes];
3-13 (iv) any felony under Chapter 34, Penal
3-14 Code;
3-15 (v) a Class A misdemeanor under Subchapter
3-16 B, Chapter 365, Health and Safety Code, if the defendant has been
3-17 previously convicted twice of an offense under that subchapter; or
3-18 (vi) any felony under Chapter 152, Finance
3-19 Code [The Sale of Checks Act (Article 489d, Vernon's Texas Civil
3-20 Statutes)];
3-21 (C) the proceeds gained from the commission of a
3-22 felony listed in Paragraph (A) or (B) of this subdivision or a
3-23 crime of violence; or
3-24 (D) acquired with proceeds gained from the
3-25 commission of a felony listed in Paragraph (A) or (B) of this
3-26 subdivision or a crime of violence.
3-27 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999. The
4-1 change in law made by this Act applies only to an offense committed
4-2 on or after September 1, 1999. An offense committed before
4-3 September 1, 1999, is covered by the law in effect when the offense
4-4 was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
4-5 purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
4-6 before September 1, 1999, if any element of the offense occurred
4-7 before that date.
4-8 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
4-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.