79R1128 KCR-D

By:  Jones of Dallas                                              H.B. No. 671



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the prosecution of an offense involving injury to 
certain individuals.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 22.04(c)(2), Penal Code, is amended to 
read as follows:  
		(2)  "Elderly individual" means a person 60 [65] years 
of age or older.
	SECTION 2.  Section 22.04(d), Penal Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
	(d)  The actor, including an employee of a nursing facility 
licensed under Chapter 242, Health and Safety Code, an assisted 
living facility licensed under Chapter 247, Health and Safety Code, 
and an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded 
licensed under Chapter 252, Health and Safety Code, has assumed 
care, custody, or control if the actor [he] has by act, words, or 
course of conduct acted so as to cause a reasonable person to 
conclude that the actor [he] has accepted responsibility for 
protection, food, shelter, and medical care for a child, elderly 
individual, or disabled individual.
	SECTION 3.  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 occurred before that date.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.