H.B. No. 616




AN ACT

relating to the punishment for the offense of terroristic threat.             
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 22.07, Penal Code, is amended by 
amending Subsection (b) and by adding Subsection (c) to read as 
follows:
	(b)  An offense under Subdivision (1) or (2) of Subsection 
(a) is a Class B misdemeanor.  An offense under Subdivision (3) of 
Subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor, unless the actor causes 
pecuniary loss of $1,500 or more to the owner of the building, room, 
place, or conveyance, in which event the offense is a state jail 
felony.  An offense under Subdivision (4) of Subsection (a) is a 
felony of the third degree.
	(c)  The amount of pecuniary loss under Subsection (b) is the 
amount of economic loss suffered by the owner of the building, room, 
place, or conveyance as a result of the prevention or interruption 
of the occupation or use of the building, room, place, or 
conveyance.
	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 the effective 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.                           




______________________________              ______________________________
 
   President of the Senate                               Speaker of the House      

	I certify that H.B. No. 616 was passed by the House on April 
1, 2003, by a non-record vote.

                                                  ______________________________
                                                     Chief Clerk of the House   

	I certify that H.B. No. 616 was passed by the Senate on May 
28, 2003, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.

                                                  ______________________________
                                                     Secretary of the Senate    



APPROVED:  _____________________                                            
 
                   Date                                                      




 
          _____________________                                          
 
                 Governor