By Tillery                                             H.B. No. 322
         77R2376 PEP-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to murder committed in certain places associated with a
 1-3     school or educational institution as a capital offense.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 19.03(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
 1-6     as follows:
 1-7           (a)  A person commits an offense if the person [he] commits
 1-8     murder as defined under Section 19.02(b)(1)  and:
 1-9                 (1)  the person murders a peace officer or fireman who
1-10     is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the
1-11     person knows is a peace officer or fireman;
1-12                 (2)  the person intentionally commits the murder in the
1-13     course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary,
1-14     robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, or obstruction or
1-15     retaliation;
1-16                 (3)  the person commits the murder for remuneration or
1-17     the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder
1-18     for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;
1-19                 (4)  the person commits the murder while escaping or
1-20     attempting to escape from a penal institution;
1-21                 (5)  the person, while incarcerated in a penal
1-22     institution, murders another:
1-23                       (A)  who is employed in the operation of the
1-24     penal institution; or
 2-1                       (B)  with the intent to establish, maintain, or
 2-2     participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination;
 2-3                 (6)  the person:
 2-4                       (A)  while incarcerated for an offense under this
 2-5     section or Section 19.02, murders another; or
 2-6                       (B)  while serving a sentence of life
 2-7     imprisonment or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section
 2-8     20.04, 22.021, or 29.03, murders another;
 2-9                 (7)  the person murders more than one person:
2-10                       (A)  during the same criminal transaction; or
2-11                       (B)  during different criminal transactions but
2-12     the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of
2-13     conduct; [or]
2-14                 (8)  the person murders an individual under six years
2-15     of age; or
2-16                 (9)  the person murders an individual on the physical
2-17     premises of a school or educational institution, any grounds or
2-18     building on which an activity sponsored by a school or educational
2-19     institution is being conducted, or a passenger transportation
2-20     vehicle of a school or educational institution, regardless of
2-21     whether the school or educational institution is public or private.
2-22           SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
2-23     to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
2-24     An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
2-25     covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
2-26     the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.  For
2-27     purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
 3-1     effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
 3-2     before that date.
 3-3           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.