79R2344 KEL-F


By:  Talton                                                       H.B. No. 825



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the prosecution of the offense of interference with 
public duties.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 38.15(a), Penal Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
	(a)  A person commits an offense if the person with criminal 
negligence interrupts, disrupts, impedes, or otherwise interferes 
with:
		(1)  a peace officer while the peace officer is 
performing a duty or exercising authority imposed or granted by 
law;
		(2)  a person who is employed to provide emergency 
medical services including the transportation of ill or injured 
persons while the person is performing that duty;
		(3)  a fire fighter, while the fire fighter is fighting 
a fire or investigating the cause of a fire;
		(4)  an animal under the supervision of a peace 
officer, corrections officer, or jailer, if the person knows the 
animal is being used for law enforcement, corrections, prison or 
jail security, or investigative purposes; [or]
		(5)  the transmission of a communication over a 
citizen's band radio channel, the purpose of which communication is 
to inform or inquire about an emergency; or
		(6)  an officer with responsibility for animal control 
in a county or municipality, while the officer is performing a duty 
or exercising authority imposed or granted under Chapter 821 or 
822, Health and Safety Code.
	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.