By Deshotel H.B. No. 132
77R634 KEL-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the prosecution of the offense of harassment.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Sections 42.07(a) and (b), Penal Code, are
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to harass,
1-7 annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass another, he:
1-8 (1) initiates communication by telephone, [or] in
1-9 writing, or by electronic communication and in the course of the
1-10 communication makes a comment, request, suggestion, or proposal
1-11 that is obscene;
1-12 (2) threatens, by telephone, [or] in writing, or by
1-13 electronic communication, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm
1-14 the person receiving the threat, to inflict bodily injury on the
1-15 person or to commit a felony against the person, a member of his
1-16 family, or his property;
1-17 (3) conveys, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm
1-18 the person receiving the report, a false report, which is known by
1-19 the conveyor to be false, that another person has suffered death or
1-20 serious bodily injury;
1-21 (4) causes the telephone of another to ring repeatedly
1-22 or makes repeated telephone communications anonymously or in a
1-23 manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment,
1-24 embarrass, or offend another;
2-1 (5) makes a telephone call and intentionally fails to
2-2 hang up or disengage the connection; [or]
2-3 (6) knowingly permits a telephone that is under the
2-4 person's control or a device that initiates electronic
2-5 communications and is under the person's [his] control to be used
2-6 by another [a person] to commit an offense under this section; or
2-7 (7) sends repeated electronic communications, either
2-8 signed or anonymously, or sends repeated electronic communications
2-9 in a manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse,
2-10 torment, embarrass, or offend another.
2-11 (b) In this section:
2-12 (1) "Electronic communication" includes:
2-13 (A) a communication initiated by electronic
2-14 mail, network call, or a facsimile machine; and
2-15 (B) a communication made to a pager.
2-16 (2) "Family" has the meaning assigned by Section
2-17 71.003, Family Code.
2-18 (3) "Obscene" [For purposes of Subsection (a)(1),
2-19 "obscene"] means containing a patently offensive description of or
2-20 a solicitation to commit an ultimate sex act, including sexual
2-21 intercourse, masturbation, cunnilingus, fellatio, or anilingus, or
2-22 a description of an excretory function. [In this section, "family"
2-23 has the meaning assigned by Section 71.003, Family Code.]
2-24 SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
2-25 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
2-26 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
2-27 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
3-1 before the effective date.
3-2 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-3 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-4 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-5 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.