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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to increasing the punishment for certain conduct |
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constituting the offense of criminal trespass. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 30.05(b), Penal Code, is amended by |
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adding Subdivision (12) to read as follows: |
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(12) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning |
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assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code. |
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SECTION 2. Section 30.05, Penal Code, is amended by |
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amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as |
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follows: |
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(d) An offense under this section is: |
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(1) a Class B misdemeanor, except as provided by |
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Subdivisions (2) and (3); |
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(2) a Class C misdemeanor, except as provided by |
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Subdivision (3), if the offense is committed: |
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(A) on agricultural land and within 100 feet of |
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the boundary of the land; or |
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(B) on residential land and within 100 feet of a |
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protected freshwater area; and |
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(3) a Class A misdemeanor if: |
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(A) the offense is committed: |
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(i) in a habitation or a shelter center; |
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(ii) on a Superfund site; or |
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(iii) on or in a critical infrastructure |
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facility; [or] |
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(B) the offense is committed on or in property of |
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an institution of higher education and it is shown on the trial of |
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the offense that the person has previously been convicted of: |
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(i) an offense under this section relating |
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to entering or remaining on or in property of an institution of |
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higher education; or |
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(ii) an offense under Section 51.204(b)(1), |
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Education Code, relating to trespassing on the grounds of an |
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institution of higher education; or |
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(C) the person carries a deadly weapon during the |
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commission of the offense. |
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(d-1) For the purposes of Subsection (d)(3)(B), a person has |
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previously been convicted of an offense described by that paragraph |
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if the person was adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea |
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of guilty or nolo contendere in return for a grant of deferred |
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adjudication community supervision, regardless of whether the |
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sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether the sentence |
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was probated and the person was subsequently discharged from |
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deferred adjudication community supervision. |
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SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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before that date. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |