79R3305 BDH-D

By:  Quintanilla                                                  H.B. No. 716



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the punishment for false statements to obtain property 
or credit committed against an elderly person.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 32.32, Penal Code, is amended by adding 
Subsection (d) to read as follows:
	(d)  If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this 
section that in committing the offense the defendant defrauded or 
harmed an elderly individual, as that term is defined by Section 
22.04, the punishment for:
		(1)  an offense otherwise punishable as a misdemeanor 
is increased to the punishment for a state jail felony; and
		(2)  a felony other than a felony of the first degree is 
increased to the punishment prescribed for the next higher category 
of offense.
	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 
governed 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.