By Garcia H.B. No. 1763
76R6902 GWK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain domestic
1-3 violence offenses.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 22.01, Penal Code, is amended by amending
1-6 Subsections (b) and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
1-7 follows:
1-8 (b) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A
1-9 misdemeanor, except that the offense is[:]
1-10 [(1)] a felony of the third degree if the offense is
1-11 committed against:
1-12 (1) a person the actor knows is a public servant while
1-13 the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty, or in
1-14 retaliation or on account of an exercise of official power or
1-15 performance of an official duty as a public servant; or
1-16 (2) [a state jail felony if it is shown on the trial
1-17 of the offense that the offense was committed against] a [family]
1-18 member of the defendant's family or household, if it is shown on
1-19 the trial of the offense [and] that the defendant has been
1-20 previously convicted of an offense against a [family] member of the
1-21 defendant's family or household under this section or Section 22.03
1-22 [two or more times].
1-23 (e) In this section:
1-24 (1) "Family" [, "family"] has the meaning assigned by
2-1 Section 71.003 [71.01], Family Code.
2-2 (2) "Household" has the meaning assigned by Section
2-3 71.005, Family Code.
2-4 (f) For the purposes of this section, a defendant has been
2-5 previously convicted of an offense against a member of the
2-6 defendant's family or a member of the defendant's household under
2-7 this section or an offense under Section 22.03 if the defendant was
2-8 adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo
2-9 contendere in return for a grant of deferred adjudication,
2-10 regardless of whether the sentence for the offense was ever imposed
2-11 or whether the sentence was probated and the defendant was
2-12 subsequently discharged from community supervision.
2-13 SECTION 2. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding
2-14 Section 22.03 to read as follows:
2-15 Sec. 22.03. FAMILY OR HOUSEHOLD VIOLENCE COMMITTED WITHIN
2-16 VIEW OF CHILD. (a) In this section:
2-17 (1) "Child" means a person younger than 17 years of
2-18 age.
2-19 (2) "Family" has the meaning assigned by Section
2-20 71.003, Family Code.
2-21 (3) "Household" has the meaning assigned by Section
2-22 71.005, Family Code.
2-23 (b) A person commits an offense if the person commits
2-24 assault as defined in Section 22.01(a)(1) or (a)(2) against a
2-25 member of the defendant's family or a member of the defendant's
2-26 household and another member of the family or household who is a
2-27 child witnesses the commission of the offense.
3-1 (c) An offense under this section is:
3-2 (1) a state jail felony if the assault is defined in
3-3 Section 22.01(a)(1); or
3-4 (2) a Class B misdemeanor if the assault is defined in
3-5 Section 22.01(a)(2).
3-6 SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
3-7 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
3-8 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
3-9 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
3-10 before the effective date.
3-11 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-12 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-13 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-14 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-15 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.