| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the punishment for the offense of arson. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 28.02(d), Penal Code, is amended to read |
|
|
as follows: |
|
|
(d) An offense under Subsection (a) is a felony of the |
|
|
second degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first |
|
|
degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that: |
|
|
(1) bodily injury or death was suffered by any person |
|
|
by reason of the commission of the offense; or |
|
|
(2) the property intended to be damaged or destroyed |
|
|
by the actor was: |
|
|
(A) a habitation or a place of assembly or |
|
|
worship; |
|
|
(B) an agricultural facility in which the primary |
|
|
purpose is raising, growing, or otherwise caring for livestock in |
|
|
confinement for the production of food, including a beef cattle |
|
|
feedlot, milk cow dairy, egg and poultry operation, swine breeding |
|
|
or growing farm, livestock auction yard, or slaughterhouse; or |
|
|
(C) located in a state park. |
|
|
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 on the date 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, 2013. |