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79R322 KCR-F
By: Staples S.B. No. 431
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of the offense of criminal trespass on
certain property.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 30.05(b), Penal Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (7) to read as follows:
(7) "Critical infrastructure facility" means one of
the following, if completely enclosed by a fence or other physical
barrier that is obviously designed to exclude intruders:
(A) a chemical manufacturing facility;
(B) a refinery;
(C) an electrical power generating facility;
(D) a water intake structure or water treatment
facility;
(E) a natural gas transmission compressor
station;
(F) a liquid natural gas terminal or storage
facility; or
(G) a port, railroad switching yard, trucking
terminal, or other freight transportation facility.
SECTION 2. Section 30.05, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and by adding Subsection (g) to read as
follows:
(d) An offense under Subsection (e) is a Class C misdemeanor
unless it is committed in a habitation or unless the actor carries a
deadly weapon on or about the actor's person during the commission
of the offense, in which event it is a Class A misdemeanor. An
offense under Subsection (a) is a Class B misdemeanor, except that
the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if:
(1) the offense is committed:
(A) in a habitation or a shelter center; [or]
(B) on a Superfund site; or
(C) on or in a critical infrastructure facility;
or
(2) the actor carries a deadly weapon on or about his
person during the commission of the offense.
(g) At the punishment stage of a trial in which the attorney
representing the state seeks the increase in punishment provided by
Subsection (d)(1)(C), the defendant may raise the issue as to
whether the defendant entered or remained on or in a critical
infrastructure facility as part of a lawful assembly or peaceful
and orderly petition for the redress of grievances, including an
assembly or petition addressing a labor dispute between an employer
and employee. If the defendant proves the issue in the affirmative
by a preponderance of the evidence, the increase in punishment
provided by Subsection (d)(1)(C) does not apply.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after September 1, 2005. An offense
committed before September 1, 2005, 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 September 1, 2005, if any element of the
offense was committed before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.