| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
| |
|
|
relating to the prosecution of and punishment prescribed for |
|
|
engaging in organized criminal activity in a gang-free zone. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 71, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Sections 71.028 and 71.029 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 71.028. GANG-FREE ZONES. (a) In this section: |
|
|
(1) "Institution of higher education," "playground," |
|
|
"premises," "school," "video arcade facility," and "youth center" |
|
|
have the meanings assigned by Section 481.134, Health and Safety |
|
|
Code. |
|
|
(2) "Shopping mall" means an enclosed public walkway |
|
|
or hall area that connects retail, service, or professional |
|
|
establishments. |
|
|
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the punishment |
|
|
prescribed for an offense under Section 71.02 is increased to the |
|
|
punishment prescribed for the next highest category of offense if |
|
|
it is shown beyond a reasonable doubt on the trial of the offense |
|
|
that the actor committed the offense at a location that was: |
|
|
(1) in, on, or within 1,000 feet of any: |
|
|
(A) real property that is owned, rented, or |
|
|
leased by a school or school board; |
|
|
(B) premises owned, rented, or leased by an |
|
|
institution of higher education; |
|
|
(C) shopping mall; |
|
|
(D) movie theater; |
|
|
(E) premises of a public or private youth center; |
|
|
or |
|
|
(F) playground; |
|
|
(2) in, on, or within 300 feet of the premises of a |
|
|
public swimming pool or video arcade facility; or |
|
|
(3) on a school bus. |
|
|
(c) The punishment prescribed for an offense under Section |
|
|
71.02 may not be increased under this section if the offense is |
|
|
punishable under Section 71.02 as a felony of the first degree. |
|
|
Sec. 71.029. MAPS AS EVIDENCE OF LOCATION OR AREA. (a) In |
|
|
a prosecution of an offense for which punishment is increased under |
|
|
Section 71.028, a map produced or reproduced by a municipal or |
|
|
county engineer for the purpose of showing the location and |
|
|
boundaries of gang-free zones is admissible in evidence and is |
|
|
prima facie evidence of the location or boundaries of those zones if |
|
|
the governing body of the municipality or county adopts a |
|
|
resolution or ordinance approving the map as an official finding |
|
|
and record of the location or boundaries of those zones. |
|
|
(b) A municipal or county engineer may, on request of the |
|
|
governing body of the municipality or county, revise a map that has |
|
|
been approved by the governing body of the municipality or county as |
|
|
provided by Subsection (a). |
|
|
(c) A municipal or county engineer shall file the original |
|
|
or a copy of every approved or revised map approved as provided by |
|
|
Subsection (a) with the county clerk of each county in which the |
|
|
zone is located. |
|
|
(d) This section does not prevent the prosecution from: |
|
|
(1) introducing or relying on any other evidence or |
|
|
testimony to establish any element of an offense for which |
|
|
punishment is increased under Section 71.028; or |
|
|
(2) using or introducing any other map or diagram |
|
|
otherwise admissible under the Texas Rules of Evidence. |
|
|
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 |
|
|
governed 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 occurred |
|
|
before that date. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * |