HBA-AMW S.B. 904 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 904
By: Bernsen
Criminal Jurisprudence
5/3/2001
Engrossed



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, it is a Class B misdemeanor to make a false statement
regarding a criminal investigation to a peace officer or a law enforcement
agency employee conducting the investigation, regardless of the type of
crime being investigated.  Since the punishment for this offense is
relatively minor, there may be little deterrent to making false statements.
Law enforcement officers encounter many false statements during the
investigation of felonies, and investigations of felony crimes cost police
departments considerable time and money.  Senate Bill 904 increases the
penalty for knowingly making a false statement to a peace officer or a law
enforcement employee that is material to the investigation of a felony and
adds penalties for false statements in applications for protective orders
and false reports of child abuse or neglect or false reports of family
violence. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

Senate Bill 904 amends the Penal Code to provide that a person commits a
state jail felony if the person, with intent to deceive, knowingly makes a
false statement that is material to the criminal investigation of a felony
and makes the statement to a peace officer conducting the investigation or
any employee of a law enforcement agency that is authorized by the agency
to conduct the investigation and that the actor knows is conducting the
investigation.  

The bill provides that a person commits a Class A misdemeanor if the
person, with intent to deceive, knowingly makes a false statement in an
application for a protective order.  The bill provides that a person
commits a Class C misdemeanor if the person, with intent to deceive,
knowingly files a false report of family violence with a law enforcement
officer or agency or makes a false statement relating to family violence to
a law enforcement officer, another employee of a law enforcement agency, or
any other governmental agency.  The bill provides that a person commits a
Class A misdemeanor if the person, with intent to deceive, knowingly files
a false report of child abuse or neglect with a law enforcement agency or
officer or makes a false statement or report relating to child abuse or
neglect to any other governmental agency. On conviction, the bill requires
a person to be punished for a state jail felony if the person has been
previously convicted of knowingly filing, with intent to deceive, a false
report of child abuse or neglect with a law enforcement agency or officer
or making a false statement or report relating to child abuse or neglect to
any other governmental agency. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.