S.B. No. 1649

AN ACT

relating to increasing the punishment for certain conduct constituting the offense of criminal trespass.

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

SECTION 1. Section 30.05(b), Penal Code, is amended by adding Subdivision (12) to read as follows:

(12) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code.

SECTION 2. Section 30.05, Penal Code, is amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (d-1) and (d-2) to read as follows:

(d) An offense under this section is:

(1) a Class B misdemeanor, except as provided by Subdivisions (2) and (3);

(2) a Class C misdemeanor, except as provided by Subdivision (3), if the offense is committed:

(A) on agricultural land and within 100 feet of the boundary of the land; or

(B) on residential land and within 100 feet of a protected freshwater area; and

(3) a Class A misdemeanor if:

(A) the offense is committed:

(i) in a habitation or a shelter center;

(ii) on a Superfund site; or

(iii) on or in a critical infrastructure facility; [or]

(B) the offense is committed on or in property of an institution of higher education and it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person has previously been convicted of:

(i) an offense under this section relating to entering or remaining on or in property of an institution of higher education; or

(ii) an offense under Section 51.204(b)(1), Education Code, relating to trespassing on the grounds of an institution of higher education; or

(C) the person carries a deadly weapon during the commission of the offense.

(d-1) For the purposes of Subsection (d)(3)(B), a person has previously been convicted of an offense described by that paragraph if the person 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 person was subsequently discharged from deferred adjudication community supervision.

(d-2) At the punishment stage of a trial in which the attorney representing the state seeks the increase in punishment provided by Subsection (d)(3)(B), the defendant may raise the issue as to whether, at the time of the instant offense or the previous offense, the defendant was engaging in speech or expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution. If the defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of the evidence, the increase in punishment provided by Subsection (d)(3)(B) does not apply.

SECTION 3. 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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1649 passed the Senate on May 10, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 5; and that the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 26, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 6.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1649 passed the House, with amendment, on May 23, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 105, Nays 40, three present not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

______________________________

Date

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Governor