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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the penalty for certain family violence committed in |
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the presence of a child. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 22.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
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Subsection (b-2) to read as follows: |
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(b-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), unless an exception |
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is otherwise provided by that subsection, an offense under |
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Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum term of |
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confinement of 30 days if the offense is committed against a person |
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whose relationship to or association with the defendant is |
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described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code, |
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and: |
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(1) the offense was committed in the physical presence |
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or within the hearing of a person who is younger than 15 years of |
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age; and |
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(2) at the time of the offense, the person has |
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knowledge or reason to know that the person who is younger than 15 |
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years of age is present and may see or hear the offense. |
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SECTION 2. Section 14, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal |
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Procedure, as amended by Chapter 165 (H.B. 119), Acts of the 73rd |
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Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, Chapter 910 (H.B. 2187), Acts |
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of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, Chapter 353 (S.B. |
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1054), Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, and |
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Chapter 113 (S.B. 44), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular |
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Session, 2007, is amended by adding Subsection (b) to read as |
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follows: |
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(b) A judge granting community supervision to a defendant |
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convicted of an offense under Section 22.01, Penal Code, and |
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punished under Subsection (b-2) of that section shall require as a |
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condition of community supervision that the defendant submit to not |
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less than five days of continuous confinement in county jail. |
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SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
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offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed |
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by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the |
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former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
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this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
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this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |