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BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

C.S.H.B. 760

By: Wu

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

It has been reported that a growing number of Texans are engaging in e-commerce and are having goods and products delivered straight to the doorsteps of their homes and businesses. However, concerns have been raised regarding the alarming trend of package theft from these locations. C.S.H.B. 760 seeks to offer protections for the property of hardworking Texans by increasing the penalty for the theft of property of a specified value that is a delivered package.

 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

 

It is the committee's opinion that this bill expressly does one or more of the following: creates a criminal offense, increases the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or changes the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

 

ANALYSIS

 

C.S.H.B. 760 amends the Penal Code to increase to a Class A misdemeanor the penalty for theft of property valued at less than $2,500 that is a package that has been delivered by a common carrier but not yet received by the addressee or has been left to be collected for delivery by a common carrier and is stolen from a residential or commercial property, including the driveway, porch, front door, or any other area of the property. The bill establishes that it is not a defense to prosecution of such an offense that the package is addressed to a person who is not the owner of the residential or commercial property from which the package was stolen.

  

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

September 1, 2019.

 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

 

While C.S.H.B. 760 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

 

The substitute does not include a penalty increase for the theft of a package valued at less than $30,000 that has been delivered by a common carrier but not yet received by the addressee or has been left to be collected for delivery by a common carrier and is stolen from a residential or commercial property. The substitute includes a penalty increase for the theft of such a package valued at less than $2,500.