1-1 By: Staples (Senate Sponsor - Shapiro) H.B. No. 1428
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 1999;
1-3 May 12, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
1-4 Justice; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the prosecution of and the punishment for the offense
1-9 of unlawful restraint.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 20.01(1), Penal Code, is amended to read
1-12 as follows:
1-13 (1) "Restrain" means to restrict a person's movements
1-14 without consent, so as to interfere substantially with the person's
1-15 [his] liberty, by moving the person [him] from one place to another
1-16 or by confining the person [him]. Restraint is "without consent"
1-17 if it is accomplished by:
1-18 (A) force, intimidation, or deception; or
1-19 (B) any means, including acquiescence of the
1-20 victim, if:
1-21 (i) the victim [he] is a child who is less
1-22 than 14 years of age or an incompetent person and the parent,
1-23 guardian, or person or institution acting in loco parentis has not
1-24 acquiesced in the movement or confinement; or
1-25 (ii) the victim is a child who is 14 years
1-26 of age or older and younger than 17 years of age, the victim is
1-27 taken outside of the state and outside a 120-mile radius from the
1-28 victim's residence, and the parent, guardian, or person or
1-29 institution acting in loco parentis has not acquiesced in the
1-30 movement.
1-31 SECTION 2. Section 20.02, Penal Code, is amended by amending
1-32 Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
1-33 (c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor
1-34 unless:
1-35 (1) the person restrained was a child younger than 17
1-36 [14] years of age, in which event the offense is a Class A
1-37 misdemeanor; or
1-38 (2) the actor recklessly exposes the victim to a
1-39 substantial risk of serious bodily injury, in which event it is a
1-40 felony of the third degree.
1-41 (e) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
1-42 section that:
1-43 (1) the person restrained was a child who is 14 years
1-44 of age or older and younger than 17 years of age;
1-45 (2) the actor does not restrain the child by force,
1-46 intimidation, or deception; and
1-47 (3) the actor is not more than three years older than
1-48 the child.
1-49 SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
1-50 to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
1-51 An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
1-52 covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
1-53 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
1-54 purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
1-55 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
1-56 before that date.
1-57 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-58 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
1-59 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-60 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-61 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-62 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-63 * * * * *