85R7999 SMT-D

By: Miller H.B. No. 2846

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the employment of certain individuals at a sexually oriented business.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 125.0015(a), Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A person who maintains a place to which persons habitually go for the following purposes and who knowingly tolerates the activity and furthermore fails to make reasonable attempts to abate the activity maintains a common nuisance:

(1) discharge of a firearm in a public place as prohibited by the Penal Code;

(2) reckless discharge of a firearm as prohibited by the Penal Code;

(3) engaging in organized criminal activity as a member of a combination as prohibited by the Penal Code;

(4) delivery, possession, manufacture, or use of a controlled substance in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code;

(5) gambling, gambling promotion, or communicating gambling information as prohibited by the Penal Code;

(6) prostitution, promotion of prostitution, or aggravated promotion of prostitution as prohibited by the Penal Code;

(7) compelling prostitution as prohibited by the Penal Code;

(8) commercial manufacture, commercial distribution, or commercial exhibition of obscene material as prohibited by the Penal Code;

(9) aggravated assault as described by Section 22.02, Penal Code;

(10) sexual assault as described by Section 22.011, Penal Code;

(11) aggravated sexual assault as described by Section 22.021, Penal Code;

(12) robbery as described by Section 29.02, Penal Code;

(13) aggravated robbery as described by Section 29.03, Penal Code;

(14) unlawfully carrying a weapon as described by Section 46.02, Penal Code;

(15) murder as described by Section 19.02, Penal Code;

(16) capital murder as described by Section 19.03, Penal Code;

(17) continuous sexual abuse of young child or children as described by Section 21.02, Penal Code;

(18) massage therapy or other massage services in violation of Chapter 455, Occupations Code;

(19) employing an individual younger than 21 years of age [a minor] at a sexually oriented business as defined by Section 243.002, Local Government Code;

(20) trafficking of persons as described by Section 20A.02, Penal Code;

(21) sexual conduct or performance by a child as described by Section 43.25, Penal Code; or

(22) employment harmful to a child as described by Section 43.251, Penal Code.

SECTION 2. Sections 51.016(b) and (h), Labor Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) A sexually oriented business may not employ an individual younger than 21 [18] years of age.

(h) The commission, the attorney general, or a local law enforcement agency may inspect a record maintained under this section if there is good reason to believe that an individual younger than 21 [18] years of age is employed or has been employed by the sexually oriented business within the two years preceding the date of the inspection.

SECTION 3. Section 43.251(a)(1), Penal Code, is amended to read as follows:

(1) "Child" means a person younger than 21 [18] years of age.

SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section 125.0015, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrues before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act to Section 51.016, Labor Code, and Section 43.251, Penal Code, apply 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 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.