By: Menéndez S.B. No. 762

(In the Senate - Filed February 6, 2017; February 22, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; April 26, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 1; April 26, 2017, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 762 By: Zaffirini

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the prosecution of offenses involving cruelty to animals; increasing a criminal penalty.

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

SECTION 1. Section 42.092, Penal Code, is amended by amending Subsections (c) and (f) and adding Subsections (c-1) and (c-2) to read as follows:

(c) An offense under Subsection (b)(3), (4), (5), (6), or (9) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony if the person has previously been convicted [two times] under this section[, two times under Section 42.09,] or [one time under this section and one time] under Section 42.09.

(c-1) An offense under Subsection (b)(1) or[,] (2) is a felony of the third degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if the person has previously been convicted under Subsection (b)(1), (2), (7), or (8) or under Section 42.09.

(c-2) An offense under Subsection (b)(7)[, (7),] or (8) is a state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if the person has previously been convicted [two times] under this section[, two times under Section 42.09,] or [one time under this section and one time] under Section 42.09.

(f) It is a defense to prosecution under [an exception to the application of] this section that the conduct engaged in by the actor is a generally accepted and otherwise lawful:

(1) form of conduct occurring solely for the purpose of or in support of:

(A) fishing, hunting, or trapping; or

(B) wildlife management, wildlife or depredation control, or shooting preserve practices as regulated by state and federal law; or

(2) animal husbandry or agriculture practice involving livestock animals.

SECTION 2. Section 822.013, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:

(f) It is not a defense to prosecution under Section 42.092, Penal Code, that the actor's conduct was authorized under this section.

SECTION 3. Section 821.023(b), Health and Safety Code, is repealed.

SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.

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