C.S.H.B. 155 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 155 By: West, George "Buddy" Law Enforcement Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law does not prohibit a registered sex offender from owning, managing, or working for a sexually oriented business. C.S.H.B. 155 prohibits a registered sex offender from owning or working for a sexually oriented business and prohibits sexually oriented businesses from hiring registered sex offenders. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 155 amends Title 4 of the Business & Commerce Code by adding Chapter 46, Sexually Oriented Businesses. It defines a sex offender as a person who has been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for an offense for which that person is subject to registration as a sex offender. It defines a sexually oriented business as the meaning assigned by Section 243.002, Local Government Code. The bill prohibits a sex offender from owning, operating, managing, or working at a sexually oriented business and conversely prohibits a sexually oriented business from hiring or contracting with a person it knows to be a sex offender. The bill provides that the attorney general or district or county attorney may bring a suit in the district court of the county against a person who is currently in violation or threatening to violate this Act and states that the district court may grant any relief warranted, including a restraining order or injunction. The bill also provides a criminal penalty of a Class A misdemeanor for either a sex offender or a sexually oriented business that commits an offense under this Act. EFFECTIVE DATE This Act takes effect September 1, 2003. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The original defines sex offender as a person subject to registration under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, and a person convicted or placed on deferred adjudication for offenses under Chapter 21 of the Penal Code (Homosexual Conduct, Public Lewdness, Indecent Exposure, Indecency with a Child, and Improper Photography or Video Recording), Chapter 43 of the Penal Code (prostitution, obscenity, pornography), and Section 71.02(a)(3) of the Penal Code (organized promotion of prostitution). The substitute confines the definition of sex offender to a person subject to registration under Chapter 62 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.