By:  Staples                                           S.B. No. 437
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the offense of theft of service.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 31.04,
 1-5     Penal Code, are amended to read as follows:
 1-6           (a)  A person commits theft of service if, with intent to
 1-7     avoid payment for service that he knows is provided only for
 1-8     compensation:
 1-9                 (1)  he intentionally or knowingly secures performance
1-10     of the service by deception, threat, or false token;
1-11                 (2)  having control over the disposition of services of
1-12     another to which he is not entitled, he intentionally or knowingly
1-13     diverts the other's services to his own benefit or to the benefit
1-14     of another not entitled to them; [or]
1-15                 (3)  having control of personal property under a
1-16     written rental agreement, he holds the property beyond the
1-17     expiration of the rental period without the effective consent of
1-18     the owner of the property, thereby depriving the owner of the
1-19     property of its use in further rentals; or
1-20                 (4)  he intentionally or knowingly secures the
1-21     performance of the service by agreeing to provide compensation and,
1-22     after the service is rendered, fails to make payment after
1-23     receiving notice demanding payment.
1-24           (b)  For purposes of this section, intent to avoid payment is
1-25     presumed if:
 2-1                 (1)  the actor absconded without paying for the service
 2-2     or expressly refused to pay for the service in circumstances where
 2-3     payment is ordinarily made immediately upon rendering of the
 2-4     service, as in hotels, campgrounds, recreational vehicle parks,
 2-5     restaurants, and comparable establishments;
 2-6                 (2)  the actor failed to return the property held under
 2-7     a rental agreement or failed to make payment under a service
 2-8     agreement within 10 days after receiving notice demanding return;
 2-9     or
2-10                 (3)  the actor returns property held under a rental
2-11     agreement after the expiration of the rental agreement and fails to
2-12     pay the applicable rental charge for the property within 10 days
2-13     after the date on which the actor received notice demanding
2-14     payment.
2-15           (c)  For purposes of Subsections (a)(4) and [Subsection]
2-16     (b)(2), notice shall be notice in writing, sent by registered or
2-17     certified mail with return receipt requested or by telegram with
2-18     report of delivery requested, and addressed to the actor at his
2-19     address shown on the rental agreement or service agreement.
2-20           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
2-21     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
2-22     Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
2-23     the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
2-24     before the effective date.
2-25           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
2-26     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
 3-1     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
 3-2           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.