By Talton                                             H.B. No. 1043
         76R4561 GWK-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the prosecution of the offense of harboring a runaway
 1-3     child.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 25.06(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
 1-6     as follows:
 1-7           (a)  A person commits an offense if he knowingly harbors a
 1-8     child and he is criminally negligent about whether the child:
 1-9                 (1)  is younger than 17 [18] years; and
1-10                 (2)  has escaped from the custody of a peace officer, a
1-11     probation officer, the Texas Youth Council, or a detention facility
1-12     for children, or is voluntarily absent from the child's home
1-13     without the consent of the child's parent or guardian for a
1-14     substantial length of time or without the intent to return.
1-15           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
1-16     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
1-17     Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
1-18     the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
1-19     before the effective date.
1-20           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
1-21     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
1-22     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
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.