79R145 KCR-F

By:  Riddle                                                       H.B. No. 78 



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of a peace officer to make a warrantless 
arrest for the commission of family violence.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Article 14.03(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, as 
amended by Section 2, Chapter 460, Section 2, Chapter 836, Section 
1, Chapter 989, and Section 2, Chapter 1164, Acts of the 78th 
Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, is reenacted and 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 an offense defined by Section 25.07, 
Penal Code (violation of Protective Order), or by Section 38.112, 
Penal Code (violation of Protective Order issued on basis of sexual 
assault), 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 family violence [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; or [.]
		(6) [(5)]  a person who makes a statement to the peace 
officer that would be admissible against the person under Article 
38.21 and establishes probable cause to believe that the person has 
committed a felony.
	SECTION 2.  Articles 14.03(c) and (f), Code of Criminal 
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
	(c)  If reasonably necessary to verify an allegation of a 
violation of a protective order or of the commission of family 
violence [an assault against a member of the family or household], a 
peace officer shall remain at the scene of the investigation to 
verify the allegation and to prevent the further commission of the 
violation or of family violence.
	(f)  In this article, "family violence" has ["family," 
"household," and "member of a household" have] the meaning
[meanings] assigned [to those terms] by Section 71.004 [Chapter 
71], Family Code.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.                           
	SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act applies only 
to an offense committed on or after September 1, 2005.  An offense 
committed before September 1, 2005, 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 September 1, 2005, if any element of the 
offense was committed before that date.