79R372 KEL-D

By:  Eissler                                                      H.B. No. 33 



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the prosecution and punishment of the offense of 
deceptive business practices.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Sections 32.42(b), (c), and (d), Penal Code, are 
amended to read as follows:
	(b)  A person commits an offense if in the course of business 
the person [he] intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with 
criminal negligence commits one or more of the following deceptive 
business practices:
		(1)  using, selling, or possessing for use or sale a 
false weight or measure, or any other device for falsely 
determining or recording any quality or quantity;
		(2)  selling less than the represented quantity of a 
property or service;   
		(3)  taking more than the represented quantity of 
property or service when as a buyer the actor furnishes the weight 
or measure;
		(4)  selling an adulterated or mislabeled commodity;                          
		(5)  passing off property or service as that of 
another;                    
		(6)  representing that a commodity is original or new 
if it is deteriorated, altered, rebuilt, reconditioned, reclaimed, 
used, or secondhand;
		(7)  representing that a commodity or service is of a 
particular standard, quality, style, grade, or model if it is of 
another;
		(8)  advertising property or service with intent:                             
			(A)  not to sell it as advertised, or                                        
			(B)  not to supply reasonably expectable public 
demand, unless the advertising adequately discloses a time or 
quantity limit;
		(9)  representing the price of property or service 
falsely or in a way tending to mislead;
		(10)  making a materially false or misleading statement 
of fact concerning the reason for, existence of, or amount of a 
price or price reduction;
		(11)  conducting a deceptive sales contest; or                                
		(12)  making a materially false or misleading 
statement:                    
			(A)  in an advertisement for the purchase or sale 
of property or service; or
			(B)  otherwise in connection with the purchase or 
sale of property or service.
	(c)  An offense under Subsection [Subsections] (b)(1), 
(b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(4), (b)(5), or [and] (b)(6) is:
		(1)  a Class C misdemeanor if the actor commits an 
offense with criminal negligence and if he has not previously been 
convicted of a deceptive business practice; or
		(2)  a Class A misdemeanor if the actor commits an 
offense intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or if he has been 
previously convicted of a Class B or C misdemeanor under this 
section.
	(d)  An offense under Subsection [Subsections] (b)(7), 
(b)(8), (b)(9), (b)(10), (b)(11), or [and] (b)(12) is a Class A 
misdemeanor, except that an offense under Subsection (b)(7) or 
(b)(12) is a state jail felony if the deceptive business practice is 
a service for the construction or repair of a new or existing 
residence, including the construction or repair of an improvement 
appurtenant to the residence.
	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 was committed before that 
date.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.