By: Hughes  S.B. No. 10
         (In the Senate - Filed October 4, 2021; October 4, 2021,
  read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  October 4, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 6,
  Nays 2; October 4, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to increasing the criminal penalty for committing certain
  offenses relating to elections.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 64.012(b), Election Code, as effective
  December 2, 2021, is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  An offense under this section is a felony of the second
  degree unless the person is convicted of an attempt.  In that case,
  the offense is a state jail felony [Class A misdemeanor].
         SECTION 2.  Section 276.013(b), Election Code, as effective
  December 2, 2021, is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor,
  unless[:
               [(1)] the person committed the offense while acting in
  the person's capacity as an elected official, in which case the
  offense is a state jail felony[; or
               [(2) the person is convicted of an attempt, in which
  case the offense is a Class B misdemeanor].
         SECTION 3.  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 4.  This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
  last day of the legislative session.
 
  * * * * *