79R13304 PEP-D
By: Brown of Kaufman H.B. No. 1629
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1629:
By: Keel C.S.H.B. No. 1629
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to creating an offense for conduct involving the discharge
of fireworks in certain locations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 42.07, Penal Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 42.07. HARASSMENT. (a) A person commits an offense
if, with intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or
embarrass another, the person [he]:
(1) initiates communication by telephone, in writing,
or by electronic communication and in the course of the
communication makes a comment, request, suggestion, or proposal
that is obscene;
(2) threatens, by telephone, in writing, or by
electronic communication, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm
the person receiving the threat, to inflict bodily injury on the
person or to commit a felony against the person, a member of his
family or household, or his property;
(3) conveys, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm
the person receiving the report, a false report, which is known by
the conveyor to be false, that another person has suffered death or
serious bodily injury;
(4) causes the telephone of another to ring repeatedly
or makes repeated telephone communications anonymously or in a
manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment,
embarrass, or offend another;
(5) makes a telephone call and intentionally fails to
hang up or disengage the connection;
(6) knowingly permits a telephone under the person's
control to be used by another to commit an offense under this
section; [or]
(7) sends repeated electronic communications in a
manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment,
embarrass, or offend another; or
(8) discharges fireworks, as defined by Section
2154.001, Occupations Code:
(A) within 30 feet of a residential dwelling or
commercial building; or
(B) by projecting the fireworks directly at or
toward a residential dwelling or commercial building.
(b) In this section:
(1) "Electronic communication" means a transfer of
signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of
any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio,
electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or photo-optical system. The
term includes:
(A) a communication initiated by electronic
mail, instant message, network call, or facsimile machine; and
(B) a communication made to a pager.
(2) "Family" and "household" have the meaning assigned
by Chapter 71, Family Code.
(3) "Obscene" means containing a patently offensive
description of or a solicitation to commit an ultimate sex act,
including sexual intercourse, masturbation, cunnilingus, fellatio,
or anilingus, or a description of an excretory function.
(4) "Residential dwelling or commercial building"
includes a single-family home, a duplex, triplex, apartment, or
other form of multifamily housing, a motel or hotel, a mobile home,
a place used for temporary housing, and a building that is not
primarily used as a residence.
(c) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) through Subsection
(a)(7) [this section] is a Class B misdemeanor, except that the
offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the actor has previously been
convicted under this section. An offense under Subsection (a)(8)
is a Class C misdemeanor.
(d) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(8)
that the person discharged the fireworks on the property of or at or
toward a residential dwelling that the person owned, leased, or
otherwise had a right to occupy at the time of the offense.
(e) Subsection (a)(8) does not preempt a municipal
ordinance regulating the discharge of fireworks within the
territorial limits of the municipality.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.