By: Watson  S.B. No. 923
         (In the Senate - Filed March 3, 2015; March 9, 2015, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
  April 30, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
  Nays 0; April 30, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the prosecution of the offense of obstruction or
  retaliation; creating a criminal offense.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 38.49(e), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (e)  A conviction for an offense under Section 36.05 or
  36.06(a) [36.06], Penal Code, creates a presumption of forfeiture
  by wrongdoing under this article.
         SECTION 2.  Section 36.06, Penal Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 36.06.  OBSTRUCTION OR RETALIATION. (a)  A person
  commits an offense if the person [he] intentionally or knowingly
  harms or threatens to harm another by an unlawful act:
               (1)  in retaliation for or on account of the service or
  status of another as a:
                     (A)  public servant, witness, prospective
  witness, or informant; or
                     (B)  person who has reported or who the actor
  knows intends to report the occurrence of a crime; or
               (2)  to prevent or delay the service of another as a:
                     (A)  public servant, witness, prospective
  witness, or informant; or
                     (B)  person who has reported or who the actor
  knows intends to report the occurrence of a crime.
         (a-1)  A person commits an offense if the person posts on a
  publicly accessible website the residence address or telephone
  number of an individual the actor knows is a public servant or a
  member of a public servant's family or household with the intent to
  cause harm or a threat of harm to the individual or a member of the
  individual's family or household in retaliation for or on account
  of the service or status of the individual as a public servant.
         (b)  In this section:
               (1)  "Honorably retired peace officer" means a peace
  officer who:
                     (A)  did not retire in lieu of any disciplinary
  action;
                     (B)  was eligible to retire from a law enforcement
  agency or was ineligible to retire only as a result of an injury
  received in the course of the officer's employment with the agency;
  and
                     (C)  is entitled to receive a pension or annuity
  for service as a law enforcement officer or is not entitled to
  receive a pension or annuity only because the law enforcement
  agency that employed the officer does not offer a pension or annuity
  to its employees.
               (2)  "Informant" means a person who has communicated
  information to the government in connection with any governmental
  function.
               (3)  "Public servant" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 1.07, except that the term also includes an honorably
  retired peace officer.
         (c)  An offense under this section is a felony of the third
  degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if:
               (1)  [unless] the victim of the offense was harmed or
  threatened because of the victim's service or status as a juror; or
               (2)  the actor's conduct is described by Subsection
  (a-1) and results in the bodily injury of a public servant or a
  member of a public servant's family or household[, in which event
  the offense is a felony of the second degree].
         (d)  For purposes of Subsection (a-1), it is prima facie
  evidence of the intent to cause harm or a threat of harm to an
  individual the person knows is a public servant or a member of a
  public servant's family or household if the actor:
               (1)  receives a written demand from the individual to
  not disclose the address or telephone number for reasons of safety;
  and
               (2)  either:
                     (A)  fails to remove the address or telephone
  number from the publicly accessible website within a period of 48
  hours after receiving the demand; or
                     (B)  reposts the address or telephone number on
  the same or a different publicly accessible website, or makes the
  information publicly available through another medium, within a
  period of four years after receiving the demand, regardless of
  whether the individual is no longer a public servant.
         SECTION 3.  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 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
 
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