By:  Nelson, Hinojosa                                             S.B. No. 176


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the offense of interference with an emergency telephone 
call.   
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subsection (d), Section 42.062, Penal Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(d)  In this section, "emergency" means a condition or 
circumstance in which any individual is or is reasonably believed 
by the individual making a telephone call to be in fear of imminent 
assault [imminent danger of serious bodily injury] or in which 
property is or is reasonably believed by the individual making the 
telephone call to be in imminent danger of damage or destruction.
	SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Article 14.03, Code of Criminal 
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	(a)  Any peace officer may arrest, without warrant:                            
		(1)  persons found in suspicious places and under 
circumstances which reasonably show that such persons have been 
guilty of some felony, violation of Title 9, Chapter 42, Penal Code, 
breach of the peace, or offense under Section 49.02, Penal Code, or 
threaten, or are about to commit some offense against the laws;
		(2)  persons who the peace officer has probable cause 
to believe have committed an assault resulting in bodily injury to 
another person and the peace officer has probable cause to believe 
that there is danger of further bodily injury to that person;
		(3)  persons who the peace officer has probable cause 
to believe have committed the offense defined by Section 25.07, 
Penal Code (violation of Protective Order), if the offense is not 
committed in the presence of the peace officer; [or]
		(4)  persons who the peace officer has probable cause 
to believe have committed an assault resulting in bodily injury to a 
member of the person's family or household; or
		(5)  persons who the peace officer has probable cause 
to believe have prevented or interfered with an individual's 
ability to place a telephone call in an emergency, as defined by 
Section 42.062(d), Penal Code, if the offense is not committed in 
the presence of the peace officer.
	SECTION 3.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                      
	(b)  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 was committed before that date.