By Garcia                                              H.B. No. 926
         76R4631 PEP-D                           
                                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 37.10(d), Penal Code, is amended to read
 1-6     as follows:
 1-7           (d)  An offense under this section is a felony of the third
 1-8     degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
 1-9     governmental record was a public school record or document or was a
1-10     license, certificate, permit, seal, title, letter of patent, or
1-11     similar document issued by government, by another state, or by the
1-12     United States, unless the actor's intent is to defraud or harm
1-13     another, in which event the offense is a felony of the second
1-14     degree.
1-15           SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
1-16     to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
1-17     An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
1-18     covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
1-19     the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.  For
1-20     purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
1-21     effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
1-22     before that date.
1-23           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-24           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-1     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-2     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-3     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 2-4     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.