78R400 KEL-D


By:  Berman                                                       H.B. No. 204



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the offense of theft of service in connection with the 
rental of certain property.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 31.04(b), Penal Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
	(b)  For purposes of this section, intent to avoid payment is 
presumed if:   
		(1)  the actor absconded without paying for the service 
or expressly refused to pay for the service in circumstances where 
payment is ordinarily made immediately upon rendering of the 
service, as in hotels, campgrounds, recreational vehicle parks, 
restaurants, and comparable establishments;
		(2)  the actor failed to return the property held under 
a rental agreement or failed to make payment under a service 
agreement within 10 days after receiving notice demanding return;  
or
		(3)  the actor returns property held under a rental 
agreement or vacates property occupied under a rental agreement on 
or after the expiration of the rental agreement and fails to pay the 
applicable rental charge for the property within 10 days after the 
date on which the actor received notice demanding payment.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies 
only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this 
Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before 
the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs 
before that date.
	(b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this 
Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, 
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.