By: Perry S.B. No. 1575
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the prosecution of the offenses of assault and
  harassment by persons committed to certain facilities; increasing a
  criminal penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 1.07, Penal Code, is amended by adding
  Subdivision (8-a) to read as follows:
               (8-a)  "Civil commitment facility" means a facility
  owned, leased, or operated by the state, or by a vendor under
  contract with the state, that houses only persons who have been
  civilly committed as sexually violent predators under Chapter 841,
  Health and Safety Code.
         SECTION 2.  Section 22.01, Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (b-1) and (f) and adding Subsection (b-2) to
  read as follows:
         (b-1)  Notwithstanding Subsection (b), an offense under
  Subsection (a)(1) is a felony of the third degree if the offense is
  committed:
               (1)  while the actor is committed to a civil commitment
  facility; and
               (2)  against:
                     (A)  an officer or employee of the Texas Civil
  Commitment Office:
                           (i)  while the officer or employee is
  lawfully discharging an official duty at a civil commitment
  facility; or
                           (ii)  in retaliation for or on account of an
  exercise of official power or performance of an official duty by the
  officer or employee; or
                     (B)  a person who contracts with the state to
  perform a service in a civil commitment facility or an employee of
  that person:
                           (i)  while the person or employee is engaged
  in performing a service within the scope of the contract, if the
  actor knows the person or employee is authorized by the state to
  provide the service; or
                           (ii)  in retaliation for or on account of the
  person's or employee's performance of a service within the scope of
  the contract. 
         (b-2)  Notwithstanding Subsection (b)(2), an offense under
  Subsection (a)(1) is a felony of the second degree 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)  it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
  defendant has been previously convicted of an offense under this
  chapter, Chapter 19, or Section 20.03, 20.04, or 21.11 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;
  and
               (3)  the offense is committed by intentionally,
  knowingly, or recklessly impeding the normal breathing or
  circulation of the blood of the person by applying pressure to the
  person's throat or neck or by blocking the person's nose or mouth.
         (f)  For the purposes of Subsections (b)(2)(A) and (b-2)(2) 
  [(b-1)(2)]:
               (1)  a defendant has been previously convicted of an
  offense listed in those subsections 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, 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, 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;
  and
               (2)  a conviction under the laws of another state for an
  offense containing elements that are substantially similar to the
  elements of an offense listed in those subsections is a conviction
  of the offense listed.
         SECTION 3.  The heading to Section 22.11, Penal Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 22.11.  HARASSMENT BY PERSONS IN CERTAIN [CORRECTIONAL]
  FACILITIES; HARASSMENT OF PUBLIC SERVANT.
         SECTION 4.  Sections 22.11(a) and (e), Penal Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A person commits an offense if, with the intent to
  assault, harass, or alarm, the person:
               (1)  while imprisoned or confined in a correctional or
  detention facility, causes another person to contact the blood,
  seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, saliva, urine, or feces of the actor,
  any other person, or an animal; [or]
               (2)  while committed to a civil commitment facility,
  causes:
                     (A)  an officer or employee of the Texas Civil
  Commitment Office to contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal
  fluid, saliva, urine, or feces of the actor, any other person, or an
  animal:
                           (i)  while the officer or employee is
  lawfully discharging an official duty at a civil commitment
  facility; or
                           (ii)  in retaliation for or on account of an
  exercise of official power or performance of an official duty by the
  officer or employee; or
                     (B)  a person who contracts with the state to
  perform a service in the facility or an employee of that person to
  contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, saliva, urine, or
  feces of the actor, any other person, or an animal:
                           (i)  while the person or employee is engaged
  in performing a service within the scope of the contract, if the
  actor knows the person or employee is authorized by the state to
  provide the service; or
                           (ii)  in retaliation for or on account of the
  person's or employee's performance of a service within the scope of
  the contract; or
               (3)  causes another person the actor knows to be a
  public servant to contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid,
  saliva, urine, or feces of the actor, any other person, or an animal
  while the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty
  or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of the public
  servant's official power or performance of an official duty.
         (e)  For purposes of Subsection (a)(3) [(a)(2)], the actor is
  presumed to have known the person was a public servant if the person
  was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person's
  employment as a public servant.
         SECTION 5.  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 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.