By Staples                                             S.B. No. 420
         77R300 KEL-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the prosecution of and punishment for an offense in the
 1-3     commission of which the actor interferes with an animal used in law
 1-4     enforcement.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Sections 38.15(a) and (b), Penal Code, are
 1-7     amended to read as follows:
 1-8           (a)  A person commits an offense if the person with criminal
 1-9     negligence interrupts, disrupts, impedes, or otherwise interferes
1-10     with:
1-11                 (1)  a peace officer while the peace officer is
1-12     performing a duty or exercising authority imposed or granted by
1-13     law;
1-14                 (2)  a person who is employed to provide emergency
1-15     medical services including the transportation of ill or injured
1-16     persons while the person is performing that duty;
1-17                 (3)  a fire fighter, while the fire fighter is fighting
1-18     a fire or investigating the cause of a fire;
1-19                 (4)  an animal that is used for a law enforcement,
1-20     corrections, prison or jail security, or investigative purpose
1-21     [under the supervision of a peace officer, corrections officer, or
1-22     jailer], if the person knows the animal is [being] used for that
1-23     purpose and regardless of whether the animal is being used for that
1-24     purpose at the time of the interference [law enforcement,
 2-1     corrections, prison or jail security, or investigative purposes];
 2-2     or
 2-3                 (5)  the transmission of a communication over a
 2-4     citizen's band radio channel, the purpose of which communication is
 2-5     to inform or inquire about an emergency.
 2-6           (b)  Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, an [An]
 2-7     offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.  An offense
 2-8     under Subsection (a)(4) is a felony of the third degree if in
 2-9     committing the offense the actor intentionally causes the death of
2-10     the animal.
2-11           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
2-12     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
2-13     Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
2-14     the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
2-15     before that date.
2-16           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
2-17     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
2-18     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-19           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.