1-1 By: West (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth) H.B. No. 126
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2001;
1-3 May 11, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
1-4 Justice; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the prosecution of and the punishment for the offense
1-9 of disorderly conduct involving unreasonable noise.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 42.01, Penal Code, is amended by amending
1-12 Subsections (a), (c), and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
1-13 follows:
1-14 (a) A person commits an offense if the person [he]
1-15 intentionally or knowingly:
1-16 (1) uses abusive, indecent, profane, or vulgar
1-17 language in a public place, and the language by its very utterance
1-18 tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace;
1-19 (2) makes an offensive gesture or display in a public
1-20 place, and the gesture or display tends to incite an immediate
1-21 breach of the peace;
1-22 (3) creates, by chemical means, a noxious and
1-23 unreasonable odor in a public place;
1-24 (4) abuses or threatens a person in a public place in
1-25 an obviously offensive manner;
1-26 (5) makes unreasonable noise in a public place [other
1-27 than a sport shooting range, as defined by Section 250.001, Local
1-28 Government Code,] or in or near a private residence that the actor
1-29 [he] has no right to occupy;
1-30 (6) fights with another in a public place;
1-31 (7) enters on the property of another and for a lewd
1-32 or unlawful purpose looks into a dwelling on the property through
1-33 any window or other opening in the dwelling;
1-34 (8) while on the premises of a hotel or comparable
1-35 establishment, for a lewd or unlawful purpose looks into a guest
1-36 room not the actor's [his] own through a window or other opening in
1-37 the room;
1-38 (9) discharges a firearm in a public place other than
1-39 a public road or a sport shooting range, as defined by Section
1-40 250.001, Local Government Code;
1-41 (10) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a
1-42 public place in a manner calculated to alarm;
1-43 (11) discharges a firearm on or across a public road;
1-44 or
1-45 (12) exposes the actor's [his] anus or genitals in a
1-46 public place and is reckless about whether another may be present
1-47 who will be offended or alarmed by the actor's conduct [his act].
1-48 (c) For purposes of this section:
1-49 (1) an act is deemed to occur in a public place or
1-50 near a private residence if it produces its offensive or proscribed
1-51 consequences in the public place or near a private residence; and
1-52 (2) a noise is presumed to be unreasonable if the
1-53 noise exceeds a decibel level of 55 [85] after the person making
1-54 the noise receives notice from a magistrate or peace officer that
1-55 the noise is a public nuisance.
1-56 (d) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor,
1-57 except that the offense is a Class B misdemeanor if:
1-58 (1) [unless] committed under Subsection (a)(9) or
1-59 (a)(10); or
1-60 (2) committed under Subsection (a)(5) and the
1-61 defendant has previously been convicted under Subsection (a)(5)[,
1-62 in which event it is a Class B misdemeanor].
1-63 (e) It is an exception to the application of Subsection
1-64 (a)(5) that the noise made by the actor relates to:
2-1 (1) the ordinary and necessary operations or
2-2 activities of:
2-3 (A) an airport;
2-4 (B) an agricultural operation, as defined by
2-5 Section 251.002, Agriculture Code;
2-6 (C) a business regulated by:
2-7 (i) the Railroad Commission of Texas;
2-8 (ii) the Public Utility Commission of
2-9 Texas;
2-10 (iii) the Texas Natural Resource
2-11 Conservation Commission;
2-12 (iv) the General Land Office; or
2-13 (v) the Federal Energy Regulatory
2-14 Commission; or
2-15 (D) a sport shooting range, as defined by
2-16 Section 250.001, Local Government Code; or
2-17 (2) an activity that occurs and is allowed in a
2-18 municipal area in which:
2-19 (A) commercial or entertainment purposes are
2-20 permitted by zoning ordinance; and
2-21 (B) the level of noise made by the actor is
2-22 permitted by the governing body of the municipality.
2-23 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
2-24 applies only to an offense committed on or after that date. An
2-25 offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered
2-26 by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former
2-27 law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
2-28 section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this
2-29 Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
2-30 * * * * *