By: Huffman, Garcia, Zaffirini S.B. No. 900

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to penalties for certain family violence offenses and for assultive offenses against certain persons; imposing court costs.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Penal Code, is amended by adding Section 12.475 to read as follows:

Sec. 12.475. PENALTY FOR REPEAT FAMILY VIOLENCE OFFENDERS. (a) This section applies only to an offense that is:

(1) a Class A misdemeanor or any higher category of offense; and

(2) committed under:

(A) Title 5, if an affirmative finding under Article 42.013, Code of Criminal Procedure, is made in the trial of the offense; or

(B) Section 25.11.

(b) An offense described by Subsection (a) is a felony of the second degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor has been previously convicted two or more times of any offense described by that subsection. This subsection does not apply to an offense that is a felony of the first degree or a capital felony.

(c) For the purposes of this section, a defendant has been previously convicted of an offense described by Subsection (a) if the defendant was adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision, regardless of whether the sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether the sentence was probated and the defendant was subsequently discharged from community supervision.

(d) A previous conviction for an offense described by Subsection (a) may be used for purposes of enhancement under this section or enhancement under another provision of this subchapter, but not under both this section and the other provision of this subchapter.

(e) If the punishment scheme for an offense described by Subsection (a) contains a specific enhancement provision increasing punishment to a felony of the first degree for a defendant who has previously been convicted of the offense, the specific enhancement provision controls over this section.

SECTION 2. Section 22.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding Subsection (b-2) to read as follows:

(b-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), unless an exception is otherwise provided by that subsection, an offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum term of confinement of 30 days if:

(1) the offense is committed against a person whose relationship to or association with the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code;

(2) the offense is committed in the physical presence or within the hearing of a person who is younger than 15 years of age; and

(3) at the time of the offense, the person has knowledge or reason to know that the person who is younger than 15 years of age is present and may see or hear the offense.

SECTION 3. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding Section 22.042 to read as follows:

Sec. 22.042. CONTINUOUS INJURY TO A CHILD, ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL, OR DISABLED INDIVIDUAL. (a) A person commits an offense if, during a period that is 30 or more days but less than five years in duration, the person engages two or more times in conduct that constitutes an offense under Section 22.04 against one or more victims.

(b) If a jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are not required to agree unanimously on which specific conduct engaged in by the defendant constituted an offense under Section 22.04 or on which exact date the defendant engaged in that conduct. The jury must agree unanimously that the defendant, during a period that is 30 or more days but less than five years in duration, engaged in conduct that constituted an offense under Section 22.04.

(c) If the victim of an offense under Subsection (a) is the same victim as a victim of an offense under Section 22.04, a defendant may not be convicted of the offense under Section 22.04 in the same criminal action as the offense under Subsection (a), unless the offense under Section 22.04:

(1) is charged in the alternative;

(2) occurred outside the period in which the offense alleged under Subsection (a) was committed; or

(3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (a).

(d) A defendant may not be charged with more than one count under Subsection (a) if all of the conduct that constitutes an offense under Section 22.04 is alleged to have been committed against the same victim.

(e) An offense under this section is a felony of the first degree.

SECTION 4. Article 42A.504, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:

(e) If a defendant is convicted of and placed on community supervision for, or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for, an offense punished under Section 12.475, Penal Code, the judge shall require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant submit to a term of confinement of not less than 90 days.

(f) If a defendant is convicted of and placed on community supervision for, or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for, an offense under Section 22.01, Penal Code, and punished under Subsection (b-2) of that section, the judge shall require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant submit to not less than five days of continuous confinement in county jail.

SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 102, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Article 102.0188 to read as follows:

Art. 102.0188. ADDITIONAL COSTS ATTENDANT TO CERTAIN FAMILY VIOLENCE CONVICTIONS. (a) A defendant shall pay $500 on conviction of an offense punished under Section 12.475, Penal Code.

(b) Costs imposed under this article are imposed without regard to whether the defendant is placed on community supervision after being convicted of the offense or is placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for the offense.

(c) The clerks of the respective courts shall collect the costs and pay them to the county treasurer, or to any other official who discharges the duties commonly delegated to the county treasurer, for deposit in a fund to be known as the family violence prevention fund. A fund designated by this subsection may be used only to fund family violence prevention programs, battering intervention and prevention programs, family violence centers, and other resources for victims of family violence in the county where the court is located.

(d) The county family violence prevention fund shall be administered by or under the direction of the commissioners court.

SECTION 6. Subchapter B, Chapter 102, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 102.0216 to read as follows:

Sec. 102.0216. ADDITIONAL COURT COSTS: CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE. A defendant convicted of an offense punished under Section 12.475, Penal Code, shall pay a cost on conviction, in addition to all other costs, to fund resources for victims of family violence (Art. 102.0188, Code of Criminal Procedure) . . . $500.

SECTION 7. 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 8. This Act takes effect only if a specific appropriation for the implementation of the Act is provided in a general appropriations act of the 85th Legislature.

SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.