By Allen H.B. No. 796
76R4403 GWK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the circumstances in which the murder of an individual
1-3 is punishable as a capital offense.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 19.03(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
1-6 as follows:
1-7 (a) A person commits an offense if the person [he] commits
1-8 murder as defined under Section 19.02(b)(1) and:
1-9 (1) the person murders a peace officer or fireman who
1-10 is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the
1-11 person knows is a peace officer or fireman;
1-12 (2) the person intentionally commits the murder in the
1-13 course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary,
1-14 robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, or obstruction or
1-15 retaliation;
1-16 (3) the person commits the murder for remuneration or
1-17 the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder
1-18 for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;
1-19 (4) the person commits the murder while escaping or
1-20 attempting to escape from a penal institution;
1-21 (5) the person, while incarcerated in a penal
1-22 institution, murders another:
1-23 (A) who is employed in the operation of the
1-24 penal institution; or
2-1 (B) with the intent to establish, maintain, or
2-2 participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination;
2-3 (6) the person:
2-4 (A) while incarcerated for an offense under this
2-5 section or Section 19.02, murders another; [or]
2-6 (B) while serving a sentence of life
2-7 imprisonment or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section
2-8 20.04, 22.021, or 29.03, murders another; or
2-9 (C) while completing a parole period or
2-10 mandatory supervision period after serving a sentence for an
2-11 offense listed in Section 3g(a)(1), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
2-12 Procedure, or a sentence the judgment for which contains an
2-13 affirmative finding under Section 3g(a)(2) of that article, murders
2-14 another;
2-15 (7) the person murders more than one person:
2-16 (A) during the same criminal transaction; or
2-17 (B) during different criminal transactions but
2-18 the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of
2-19 conduct; [or]
2-20 (8) the person murders an individual under six years
2-21 of age;
2-22 (9) the person murders an individual who is protected
2-23 by an order issued under Section 6.504 or Chapter 85, Family Code,
2-24 under Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, or by another
2-25 jurisdiction as provided by Chapter 88, Family Code, while the
2-26 order is directed to the person; or
2-27 (10) the person murders an individual on the physical
3-1 premises of a school or educational institution, any grounds on
3-2 which or building in which an activity sponsored by a school or
3-3 educational institution is being conducted, or a passenger
3-4 transportation vehicle of a school or educational institution,
3-5 regardless of whether the school or educational institution is
3-6 public or private.
3-7 SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
3-8 to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
3-9 An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
3-10 covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
3-11 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
3-12 purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
3-13 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
3-14 before that date.
3-15 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-16 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.