BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1110

By: Thompson, Ed

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties note the high incidence of assaults committed by sports participants, despite current penalty enhancements for such conduct, and assert that an inadvertent loophole relating to the interpretation of "participant" has resulted in cases in which the penalty enhancement is applied only to a person who is not a sports participant. H.B. 1110 seeks to remedy this situation by clarifying the applicability of conduct involving sports participants that constitutes an assault offense.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 1110 amends the Penal Code to specify that the sports participant who is exempt from the Class B misdemeanor penalty enhancement for committing certain assaultive conduct against another sports participant is an athlete younger than 19 years of age.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2017.