By Carona                                              S.B. No. 139
         77R2377 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.  Section 42.07(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
 1-5     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 or causes the initiation
 1-9     of communication by mail or any other written form of communication
1-10     or by electronic or mechanical means, including the use of a
1-11     telephone or telegraph, [telephone or in writing] and in the course
1-12     of the communication makes a comment, request, suggestion, or
1-13     proposal that is obscene;
1-14                 (2)  threatens, by telephone or in writing,  in a
1-15     manner reasonably likely to alarm the person receiving the threat,
1-16     to inflict bodily injury on the person or to commit a felony
1-17     against the person, a member of his family, or his property;
1-18                 (3)  conveys, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm
1-19     the person receiving the report, a false report, which is known by
1-20     the conveyor to be false, that another person has suffered death or
1-21     serious bodily injury;
1-22                 (4)  causes the telephone of another to ring repeatedly
1-23     or makes repeated telephone communications anonymously or in a
1-24     manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment,
 2-1     embarrass, or offend another;
 2-2                 (5)  makes a telephone call and intentionally fails to
 2-3     hang up or disengage the connection; or
 2-4                 (6)  knowingly permits a telephone  under his control
 2-5     to be used by a person to commit an offense under this section.
 2-6           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
 2-7     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
 2-8     Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
 2-9     the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
2-10     before the effective date.
2-11           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
2-12     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
2-13     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-14           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.