By Hamric H.B. No. 2978
76R5614 GWK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to requiring an individual convicted of the offense of
1-3 prostitution to undergo certain medical tests and to the creation
1-4 of the offense of engaging in prostitution while knowingly infected
1-5 with certain diseases.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Section 43.02, Penal Code, is amended to read as
1-8 follows:
1-9 Sec. 43.02. PROSTITUTION. (a) A person commits an offense
1-10 if he knowingly:
1-11 (1) offers to engage, agrees to engage, or engages in
1-12 sexual conduct for a fee; or
1-13 (2) solicits another in a public place to engage with
1-14 him in sexual conduct for hire.
1-15 (b) A person commits an offense if the person knows he or
1-16 she has acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or human
1-17 immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, antibodies to HIV, or
1-18 infection with any other probable causative agent of AIDS, and the
1-19 person knowingly:
1-20 (1) offers to engage, agrees to engage, or engages in
1-21 sexual conduct for a fee; or
1-22 (2) solicits another in a public place to engage with
1-23 him or her in sexual conduct for hire.
1-24 (c) An offense is established under Subsection (a)(1) or
2-1 (b)(1) whether the actor is to receive or pay a fee. An offense is
2-2 established under Subsection (a)(2) or (b)(2) whether the actor
2-3 solicits a person to hire him or offers to hire the person
2-4 solicited.
2-5 (d) [(c)] An offense under Subsection (a) [this section] is
2-6 a Class B misdemeanor, unless the actor has been convicted
2-7 previously under this section, in which event it is a Class A
2-8 misdemeanor. An offense under Subsection (b) is a felony of the
2-9 third degree.
2-10 SECTION 2. Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
2-11 amended by adding Article 42.038 to read as follows:
2-12 Art. 42.038. AIDS TESTING. (a) A defendant who is
2-13 convicted of an offense under Section 43.02, Penal Code, shall, at
2-14 the direction of the court, undergo a medical procedure or test
2-15 designed to show or help show whether the defendant has a sexually
2-16 transmitted disease or has acquired immune deficiency syndrome
2-17 (AIDS) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, antibodies
2-18 to HIV, or infection with any other probable causative agent of
2-19 AIDS. If the defendant refuses to submit voluntarily to the
2-20 procedure or test, the court shall require the defendant to submit
2-21 to the procedure or test. The person performing the procedure or
2-22 test shall make the test results available to the local health
2-23 authority, and the local health authority shall be required to make
2-24 the notification of the test results to the defendant. The state
2-25 may use the fact that a medical procedure or test was performed on
2-26 a defendant under this subsection or use the results of the
2-27 procedure or test in any subsequent prosecution of the defendant
3-1 for an offense under Section 43.02, Penal Code.
3-2 (b) Testing under this article shall be conducted in
3-3 accordance with written infectious disease control protocols
3-4 adopted by the Texas Board of Health that clearly establish
3-5 procedural guidelines that provide criteria for testing and that
3-6 respect the rights of the defendant and the victims of the alleged
3-7 offense.
3-8 (c) This article does not permit a court to release a test
3-9 result to anyone other than a person to whom the court is
3-10 specifically authorized by this article to release the result.
3-11 SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 102, Code of Criminal
3-12 Procedure, is amended by adding Article 102.020 to read as follows:
3-13 Art. 102.020. AIDS TESTS. (a) A defendant convicted of an
3-14 offense under Section 43.02, Penal Code, shall pay a fee that
3-15 equals the cost paid by the county for a medical procedure or test
3-16 performed on the defendant under Article 42.038, not to exceed
3-17 $100.
3-18 (b) In this article, a person is considered to have been
3-19 convicted in a case if:
3-20 (1) a sentence is imposed; or
3-21 (2) the defendant receives community supervision or
3-22 deferred adjudication.
3-23 SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
3-24 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
3-25 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
3-26 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
3-27 before the effective date.
4-1 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
4-2 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
4-3 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-4 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-5 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-6 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-7 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-8 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-9 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.