By Yarbrough                                          H.B. No. 3648
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the punishment for the offense of evading arrest or
 1-3     detention.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 38.04(b) of the Penal Code is amended to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           (b)  An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor,
 1-8     except that the offense is:
 1-9                 (1)  a state jail felony [Class A misdemeanor] if the
1-10     actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in flight and the actor has
1-11     not been previously convicted under this section;
1-12                 (2)  a felony of the third degree [state jail felony]
1-13     if the actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in flight and the
1-14     actor has been previously convicted under this section;
1-15                 (3)  a felony of the second degree [third degree] if
1-16     another suffers serious injury as a direct result of an attempt by
1-17     the officer from whom the actor is fleeing to apprehend the actor
1-18     while the actor is in flight; or
1-19                 (4)  a felony of the first degree [second degree] if
1-20     another suffers as a direct result of an attempt by the officer
1-21     from whom the actor is fleeing to apprehend the actor while the
1-22     actor is in flight.
1-23           (c)  In this section, "vehicle" has the meaning assigned by
1-24     Section 541.201, Transportation Code.
 2-1           (d)  A person who is subject to prosecution under both this
 2-2     section and another law may be prosecuted under either or both this
 2-3     section and the other law.
 2-4           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
 2-5     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
 2-6     Act.  For the purpose of this section, an offense is committed on
 2-7     or after the effective date of this Act if every element of the
 2-8     offense occurs on or after the effective date.
 2-9           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
2-10     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
2-11     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-12           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-13           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-14     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-15     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-16     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-17     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.