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79R9315 RMB-D

By:  Riddle                                                       H.B. No. 2271



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the prosecution of and punishment for the offense of 
failure to identify.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 38.01(5), Penal Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
		(5)  "Fugitive from justice" means a person for whom a 
valid arrest warrant, capias, commitment, attachment, or other 
instrument has been issued requiring a peace officer to take 
custody of the person.
	SECTION 2.  Sections 38.02(a), (b), and (d), Penal Code, are 
amended to read as follows:
	(a)  A person commits an offense if the person, on a request 
for the information, knowingly [he intentionally] refuses to give 
the person's [his] name, residence address, or date of birth to a 
peace officer who has:
		(1)  lawfully arrested the person; or                           
		(2)  lawfully detained the person [and requested the 
information].
	(b)  A person commits an offense if the person knowingly [he 
intentionally] gives a false or fictitious name, residence address, 
or date of birth to a peace officer who has:
		(1)  lawfully arrested the person;                                            
		(2)  lawfully detained the person; or                                         
		(3)  requested the information from a person that the 
peace officer has good cause to believe is a witness to a criminal 
offense.
	(d)  If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this 
section that the defendant was a fugitive from justice at the time 
of the offense, the punishment prescribed for the offense is 
increased to the punishment prescribed for the next highest 
category of offense[:
		[(1)  a Class B misdemeanor if the offense is committed 
under Subsection (a);  or
		[(2)  a Class A misdemeanor if the offense is committed 
under Subsection (b)].
	SECTION 3.  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 is committed before the effective date of 
this Act if any element of the offense occurs before the effective 
date.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.