| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to increasing the punishment for the offense of promotion |
|
|
of prostitution. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 43.03(b), Penal Code, is amended to read |
|
|
as follows: |
|
|
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony |
|
|
[Class A misdemeanor], except that the offense is: |
|
|
(1) a felony of the third degree [state jail felony] if |
|
|
the actor has been previously convicted of an offense under this |
|
|
section; or |
|
|
(2) a felony of the second degree if the actor engages |
|
|
in conduct described by Subsection (a)(1) or (2) involving a person |
|
|
younger than 18 years of age engaging in prostitution, regardless |
|
|
of whether the actor knows the age of the person at the time of [the
|
|
|
actor commits] the offense. |
|
|
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, 2017. |