By Nelson S.B. No. 24
76R1935 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 by 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, if it is shown on the trial of the offense [and] that the
1-19 defendant has been previously convicted of an offense against a
1-20 family member under this section or Section 22.03 [two or more
1-21 times].
1-22 (e) In this section, "family" has the meaning assigned by
1-23 Section 71.003 [71.01], Family Code.
1-24 (f) For the purposes of this section, a defendant has been
2-1 previously convicted of an offense against a family member under
2-2 this section or an offense under Section 22.03 if the defendant was
2-3 adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo
2-4 contendere in return for a grant of deferred adjudication,
2-5 regardless of whether the sentence for the offense was ever imposed
2-6 or whether the sentence was probated and the defendant was
2-7 subsequently discharged from community supervision.
2-8 SECTION 2. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding
2-9 Section 22.03 to read as follows:
2-10 Sec. 22.03. FAMILY VIOLENCE COMMITTED WITHIN VIEW OF CHILD.
2-11 (a) In this section:
2-12 (1) "Child" means a person younger than 17 years of
2-13 age.
2-14 (2) "Family" has the meaning assigned by Section
2-15 71.003, Family Code.
2-16 (b) A person commits an offense if the person commits
2-17 assault as defined in Section 22.01(a)(1) or (a)(2) against a
2-18 family member and another member of the family who is a child
2-19 witnesses the commission of the offense.
2-20 (c) An offense under this section is:
2-21 (1) a state jail felony if the assault is defined in
2-22 Section 22.01(a)(1); or
2-23 (2) a Class B misdemeanor if the assault is defined in
2-24 Section 22.01(a)(2).
2-25 SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
2-26 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
2-27 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
3-1 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
3-2 before the effective date.
3-3 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-4 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-5 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-6 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-7 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.