78R4805 BDH-D
By: Bohac H.B. No. 1284
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the punishment of certain assaults committed against
employees of primary or secondary schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 22.01, Penal Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 22.01. ASSAULT. (a) A person commits an offense if
the person:
(1) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes
bodily injury to another, including the person's spouse;
(2) intentionally or knowingly threatens another with
imminent bodily injury, including the person's spouse; or
(3) intentionally or knowingly causes physical
contact with another when the person knows or should reasonably
believe that the other will regard the contact as offensive or
provocative.
(b) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A
misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree
if the offense is committed against:
(1) a person the actor knows is a public servant while
the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty, or in
retaliation or on account of an exercise of official power or
performance of an official duty as a public servant; [or]
(2) a member of the defendant's family or household, if
it is shown on the trial of the offense that the defendant has been
previously convicted of an offense against a member of the
defendant's family or household under this section; or
(3) an employee of a public or private primary or
secondary school while the employee is engaged in performing duties
within the scope of employment or in retaliation for or on account
of the employee's performance of a duty within the scope of
employment.
(c) An offense under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) is a Class C
misdemeanor, except that:
(1) an offense under Subsection (a)(2) is a Class A
misdemeanor with a minimum term of confinement of 10 days and an
offense under Subsection (a)(3) is a Class B misdemeanor with a
minimum term of confinement of 10 days if the offense is committed
against an employee of a public or private primary or secondary
school while the employee is engaged in performing duties within
the scope of employment or in retaliation for or on account of the
employee's performance of a duty within the scope of employment;
and
(2) an offense under Subsection (a)(3) is a Class A
misdemeanor if the offense was committed against an elderly
individual or disabled individual, as those terms are defined by
Section 22.04.
(d) For purposes of Subsection (b)(1), the actor is presumed
to have known the person assaulted was a public servant if the
person was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the
person's employment as a public servant. For the purposes of
Subsections (b)(3) and (c)(1), the actor is presumed to have known
that the person assaulted was a school employee if the actor was a
student enrolled in or the parent or guardian of a student enrolled
in the school at which the person assaulted was employed.
(e) It is not a defense to prosecution under Subsection
(b)(3) or (c)(1) that the offense occurred off school premises or at
a time at which school was not in session.
(f) [(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.
(g) [(f)] For the purposes of this section, a defendant has
been previously convicted of an offense against a member of the
defendant's family or a member of the defendant's household under
this section if the defendant was adjudged guilty of the offense or
entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for a grant of
deferred adjudication, regardless of whether the sentence for the
offense was ever imposed or whether the sentence was probated and
the defendant was subsequently discharged from community
supervision.
SECTION 2. Section 11, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
(i) If a judge grants community supervision to a defendant
convicted of an offense for which punishment is increased under
Subsection (b)(3) or (c)(1), Section 22.01, Penal Code, the judge
shall require as a condition of community supervision that the
defendant submit to not less than 10 days confinement in county
jail.
SECTION 3. (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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.