By:  Delisi, Homer, Pena                                          H.B. No. 716



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the punishment for assaults committed against certain 
sports officials.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Sections 22.01(c) and (e), Penal Code, are 
amended to read as follows:
	(c)  An offense under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) is a Class C 
misdemeanor, except that the [an] offense [under Subsection (a)(3)] 
is:
		(1)  a Class A misdemeanor if the offense is [was] 
committed under Subsection (a)(3) against an elderly individual or 
disabled individual, as those terms are defined by Section 22.04; 
or
		(2)  a Class B misdemeanor if the offense is committed 
against a person the actor knows is a sports official either:
			(A)  while the official is performing duties in 
the official's capacity as a sports official; or
			(B)  in retaliation for or on account of the 
official's performance of a duty within the official's capacity as a 
sports official.
	(e)  In this section:                                                          
		(1)  "Family" has the meaning assigned by Section 
71.003, Family Code.      
		(2)  "Household" has the meaning assigned by Section 
71.005, Family Code.   
		(3)  "Sports official" means a person who serves in any 
official capacity with respect to an interscholastic, 
intercollegiate, or other organized amateur or professional 
athletic competition and includes a referee, umpire, or linesman.
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only 
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. 
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.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.