By Berman                                              H.B. No. 275
         77R76 PEP-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the punishment for assaults committed against certain
 1-3     sports officials.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Sections 22.01(b), (c), and (e), Penal Code, are
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (b)  An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A
 1-8     misdemeanor, except that the offense is:
 1-9                 (1)  a felony of the third degree if the offense is
1-10     committed against:
1-11                       (A) [(1)]  a person the actor knows is a public
1-12     servant while the public servant is lawfully discharging an
1-13     official duty, or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of
1-14     official power or performance of an official duty as a public
1-15     servant; or
1-16                       (B) [(2)]  a member of the defendant's family or
1-17     household, if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
1-18     defendant has been previously convicted of an offense against a
1-19     member of the defendant's family or household under this section;
1-20     or
1-21                 (2)  a state jail felony if it is shown on the trial of
1-22     the offense that the offense was committed against a person the
1-23     actor knows is a sports official either:
1-24                       (A)  while the official is performing duties in
 2-1     the official's capacity as a sports official; or
 2-2                       (B)  in retaliation for or on account of the
 2-3     official's performance of a duty within the official's capacity as
 2-4     a sports official.
 2-5           (c)  An offense under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) is a Class C
 2-6     misdemeanor, except that the [an] offense [under Subsection (a)(3)]
 2-7     is a Class A misdemeanor if the offense is:
 2-8                 (1)  [was] committed under Subsection (a)(3) against an
 2-9     elderly individual or disabled individual, as those terms are
2-10     defined by Section 22.04; or
2-11                 (2)  committed against a person the actor knows is a
2-12     sports official either:
2-13                       (A)  while the official is performing duties in
2-14     the official's capacity as a sports official; or
2-15                       (B)  in retaliation for or on account of the
2-16     official's performance of a duty within the official's capacity as
2-17     a sports official.
2-18           (e)  In this section:
2-19                 (1)  "Family" has the meaning assigned by Section
2-20     71.003, Family Code.
2-21                 (2)  "Household" has the meaning assigned by Section
2-22     71.005, Family Code.
2-23                 (3)  "Sports official" means a person who serves in any
2-24     official capacity with respect to an interscholastic,
2-25     intercollegiate, or other organized amateur or professional
2-26     athletic competition and includes a referee, umpire, linesman,
2-27     coach, instructor, administrator, or staff member.
 3-1           SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to
 3-2     an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
 3-3     offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered
 3-4     by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former
 3-5     law is continued in effect for that purpose.  For purposes of this
 3-6     section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this
 3-7     Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
 3-8           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.