78R84 JTS-F

By:  Haggerty                                                     H.B. No. 563



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the murder of a commissioned security officer as a 
capital offense.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 1.07, Penal Code, is amended by adding 
Subdivision (49) to read as follows:
		(49)  "Commissioned security officer" has the meaning 
assigned by Section 1702.002(5), Occupations Code.
	SECTION 2.  Section 19.03(a), Penal Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
	(a)  A person commits an offense if the person [he] commits 
murder as defined under Section 19.02(b)(1) and:
		(1)  the person murders a peace officer or fireman who 
is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the 
person knows is a peace officer or fireman;
		(2)  the person intentionally commits the murder in the 
course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary, 
robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, or obstruction or 
retaliation;
		(3)  the person commits the murder for remuneration or 
the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder 
for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;
		(4)  the person commits the murder while escaping or 
attempting to escape from a penal institution;
		(5)  the person, while incarcerated in a penal 
institution, murders another:
			(A)  who is employed in the operation of the penal 
institution; or         
			(B)  with the intent to establish, maintain, or 
participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination;
		(6)  the person:                                                              
			(A)  while incarcerated for an offense under this 
section or Section 19.02, murders another; or
			(B)  while serving a sentence of life imprisonment 
or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section 20.04, 22.021, or 
29.03, murders another;
		(7)  the person murders more than one person:                                 
			(A)  during the same criminal transaction; or                                
			(B)  during different criminal transactions but 
the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of 
conduct;  [or]
		(8)  the person murders an individual under six years 
of age; or     
		(9)  the person murders a commissioned security officer  
while the officer is performing a duty as a security officer and  is 
wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person's 
status as a commissioned security officer.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies only to an offense committed on or after that date.  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.  For purposes of this 
section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this 
Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.