1-1 By: Berman (Senate Sponsor - Staples) H.B. No. 269 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 11, 2001; 1-3 April 17, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on 1-4 Business and Commerce; May 1, 2001, reported favorably by the 1-5 following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 1, 2001, sent to printer.) 1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-7 AN ACT 1-8 relating to the sale of alcohol in dry areas; providing criminal 1-9 penalties. 1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-11 SECTION 1. Section 101.31, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is 1-12 amended to read as follows: 1-13 Sec. 101.31. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IN DRY AREAS. (a) Except 1-14 as otherwise provided in this code, no person in a dry area may 1-15 manufacture, distill, brew, sell, import into the state, export 1-16 from the state, transport, distribute, warehouse, store, solicit or 1-17 take orders for, or possess with intent to sell an alcoholic 1-18 beverage. 1-19 (b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor. 1-20 (c) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this 1-21 section that the person has previously been convicted two or more 1-22 times of an offense under this section, the offense is a state jail 1-23 felony. 1-24 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001. 1-25 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to an 1-26 offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For 1-27 purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the 1-28 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs 1-29 before the effective date. 1-30 (c) An offense committed before the effective date of this 1-31 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, 1-32 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. 1-33 * * * * *