By: Barrientos, Shapleigh S.B. No. 962
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the elements of and punishment for the offense of
1-2 harrassment.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 42.07, Penal Code, is amended to read as
1-5 follows:
1-6 Sec. 42.07. Harassment. (a) A person commits an offense
1-7 if, with intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or
1-8 embarrass another, he:
1-9 (1) initiates communication by telephone, [or] in
1-10 writing, or by electronic communications and in the course of the
1-11 communication makes a comment, request, suggestion, or proposal
1-12 that is obscene;
1-13 (2) threatens, by telephone, [or] in writing, or by
1-14 electronic communications, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm
1-15 the person receiving the threat, to inflict bodily injury on the
1-16 person or to commit a felony against the person, a member of his
1-17 family, or his property;
1-18 (3) conveys, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm
1-19 the person receiving the report, a false report, which is known by
1-20 the conveyor to be false, that another person has suffered death or
1-21 serious bodily injury;
1-22 (4) causes the telephone of another to ring repeatedly
1-23 or makes repeated telephone communications anonymously or in a
1-24 manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment,
2-1 embarrass, or offend another;
2-2 (5) makes a telephone call and intentionally fails to
2-3 hang up or disengage the connection; [or]
2-4 (6) knowingly permits a telephone under his control to
2-5 be used by a person to commit an offense under this section; or
2-6 (7) knowingly sends repeated electronic
2-7 communications, either signed or anonymously or in a manner
2-8 reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment,
2-9 embarrass, or offend another.
2-10 (b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(1), "obscene" means
2-11 containing a patently offensive description of or a solicitation to
2-12 commit an ultimate sex act, including sexual intercourse,
2-13 masturbation, cunnilingus, fellatio, or anilingus, or a description
2-14 of an excretory function. In this section, "family" has the
2-15 meaning assigned by Section 71.01, Family Code. In this section
2-16 electronic communications includes but is not limited to e-mail
2-17 (electronic mail), pings (network calls), faxes, or pager messages.
2-18 (c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor,
2-19 except that the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the actor has
2-20 previously been convicted under this section.
2-21 SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
2-22 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
2-23 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense occurs before that
2-24 date.
2-25 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
2-26 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-1 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-2 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-3 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.