By West H.B. No. 126
77R1365 JMC-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the prosecution of the offense of disorderly conduct
1-3 involving unreasonable noise.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 42.01, Penal Code, is amended by amending
1-6 Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
1-7 follows:
1-8 (a) A person commits an offense if the person [he]
1-9 intentionally or knowingly:
1-10 (1) uses abusive, indecent, profane, or vulgar
1-11 language in a public place, and the language by its very utterance
1-12 tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace;
1-13 (2) makes an offensive gesture or display in a public
1-14 place, and the gesture or display tends to incite an immediate
1-15 breach of the peace;
1-16 (3) creates, by chemical means, a noxious and
1-17 unreasonable odor in a public place;
1-18 (4) abuses or threatens a person in a public place in
1-19 an obviously offensive manner;
1-20 (5) makes unreasonable noise in a public place [other
1-21 than a sport shooting range, as defined by Section 250.001, Local
1-22 Government Code,] or in or near a private residence that the actor
1-23 [he] has no right to occupy;
1-24 (6) fights with another in a public place;
2-1 (7) enters on the property of another and for a lewd
2-2 or unlawful purpose looks into a dwelling on the property through
2-3 any window or other opening in the dwelling;
2-4 (8) while on the premises of a hotel or comparable
2-5 establishment, for a lewd or unlawful purpose looks into a guest
2-6 room not the actor's [his] own through a window or other opening in
2-7 the room;
2-8 (9) discharges a firearm in a public place other than
2-9 a public road or a sport shooting range, as defined by Section
2-10 250.001, Local Government Code;
2-11 (10) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a
2-12 public place in a manner calculated to alarm;
2-13 (11) discharges a firearm on or across a public road;
2-14 or
2-15 (12) exposes the actor's [his] anus or genitals in a
2-16 public place and is reckless about whether another may be present
2-17 who will be offended or alarmed by the actor's conduct [his act].
2-18 (c) For purposes of this section:
2-19 (1) an act is deemed to occur in a public place or
2-20 near a private residence if it produces its offensive or proscribed
2-21 consequences in the public place or near a private residence; and
2-22 (2) a noise is presumed to be unreasonable if the
2-23 noise exceeds a decibel level of 55 [85] after the person making
2-24 the noise receives notice from a magistrate or peace officer that
2-25 the noise is a public nuisance.
2-26 (e) It is an exception to the application of Subsection
2-27 (a)(5) that the noise made by the actor relates to:
3-1 (1) the ordinary and necessary operations or
3-2 activities of:
3-3 (A) an airport;
3-4 (B) an agricultural operation, as defined by
3-5 Section 251.002, Agriculture Code;
3-6 (C) a business regulated by:
3-7 (i) the Railroad Commission of Texas;
3-8 (ii) the Public Utility Commission of
3-9 Texas;
3-10 (iii) the Texas Natural Resource
3-11 Conservation Commission;
3-12 (iv) the General Land Office; or
3-13 (v) the Federal Energy Regulatory
3-14 Commission; or
3-15 (D) a sport shooting range, as defined by
3-16 Section 250.001, Local Government Code; or
3-17 (2) an activity that occurs and is allowed in a
3-18 municipal area in which:
3-19 (A) commercial or entertainment purposes are
3-20 permitted by zoning ordinance; and
3-21 (B) the level of noise made by the actor is
3-22 permitted by the governing body of the municipality.
3-23 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
3-24 applies only to an offense committed on or after that date. An
3-25 offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered
3-26 by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former
3-27 law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
4-1 section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this
4-2 Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.