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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the offense of continuous violence against the family. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Sections 25.11(a) and (b), Penal Code, are |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(a) A person commits an offense if, during a period that is |
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24 [12] months or less in duration, the person two or more times |
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engages in conduct that constitutes an offense under Section |
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22.01(a)(1) against another person or persons whose relationship to |
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or association with the defendant is described by Section |
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71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code. |
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(b) If the jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are |
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not required to agree unanimously on the specific conduct in which |
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the defendant engaged that constituted an offense under Section |
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22.01(a)(1) against the person or persons described by Subsection |
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(a) or the exact date when that conduct occurred. The jury must |
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agree unanimously that the defendant, during a period that is 24 |
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[12] months or less in duration, two or more times engaged in |
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conduct that constituted an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1) |
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against the person or persons described by Subsection (a). |
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SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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before that date. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |