79R7667 YDB-D

By:  Van Arsdale                                                  H.B. No. 3260



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the penalties for certain gambling offenses and to the 
forfeiture of certain gambling devices, equipment, and 
paraphernalia.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 47.03(b), Penal Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
	(b)  An offense under this section is a state jail felony
[Class A misdemeanor].
	SECTION 2.  Section 47.04(c), Penal Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
	(c)  An offense under this section is a state jail felony
[Class A misdemeanor].
	SECTION 3.  Section 47.06(e), Penal Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
	(e)  An offense under this section is a state jail felony
[Class A misdemeanor].
	SECTION 4.  Article 18.18(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(a)  Not later than the 30th day after the date of
[Following] the final conviction of a person for possession of a 
gambling device or equipment, altered gambling equipment, or 
gambling paraphernalia, the court entering the judgment of 
conviction shall order that the device, equipment, or paraphernalia 
be destroyed or forfeited to the state. Following the final 
conviction of a person for an offense involving a criminal 
instrument, [for an offense involving] an obscene device or 
material, or [for an offense involving] a scanning device or 
re-encoder, the court entering the judgment of conviction shall 
order that the [machine, device, gambling equipment or gambling 
paraphernalia,] instrument, obscene device or material, or 
scanning device or re-encoder be destroyed or forfeited to the 
state.  Not later than the 30th day after the final conviction of a 
person for an offense involving a prohibited weapon, the court 
entering the judgment of conviction on its own motion, on the motion 
of the prosecuting attorney in the case, or on the motion of the law 
enforcement agency initiating the complaint on notice to the 
prosecuting attorney in the case if the prosecutor fails to move for 
the order shall order that the prohibited weapon be destroyed or 
forfeited to the law enforcement agency that initiated the 
complaint.  If the court fails to enter the order within the time 
required by this subsection, any magistrate in the county in which 
the offense occurred may enter the order.  Following the final 
conviction of a person for an offense involving dog fighting, the 
court entering the judgment of conviction shall order that any 
dog-fighting equipment be destroyed or forfeited to the state.  
Destruction of dogs, if necessary, must be carried out by a 
veterinarian licensed in this state or, if one is not available, by 
trained personnel of a humane society or an animal shelter.  If 
forfeited, the court shall order the contraband delivered to the 
state, any political subdivision of the state, or to any state 
institution or agency.  If gambling proceeds were seized, the court 
shall order them forfeited to the state and shall transmit them to 
the grand jury of the county in which they were seized for use in 
investigating alleged violations of the Penal Code, or to the 
state, any political subdivision of the state, or to any state 
institution or agency.  If the court orders a gambling device or 
equipment, altered gambling equipment, or gambling paraphernalia 
to be forfeited to the state, the court shall notify the Texas 
Building and Procurement Commission of the forfeiture and shall 
deliver the device, equipment, or paraphernalia to the commission.  
The commission may dispose of the property in accordance with 
applicable law and may sell the device, equipment, or paraphernalia 
to a person in another state who is authorized by law to possess the 
device, equipment, or paraphernalia in that state.  If the 
commission sells a gambling device or equipment, altered gambling 
equipment, or gambling paraphernalia, the commission shall 
transmit 50 percent of the net proceeds from the sale to the law 
enforcement agency that seized the device, equipment, or 
paraphernalia, and the remainder of the net proceeds shall be 
deposited to the credit of the general revenue fund.
	SECTION 5.  The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.