This website will be unavailable from Friday, April 26, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, April 29, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.


Amend CSHB 1540 (senate committee printing) as follows:
(1)  In the recital to SECTION 21 of the bill, amending Section 20A.01, Penal Code (page 7, line 37), strike "Subdivision (1-a)" and substitute "Subdivisions (1-a), (2-a), and (2-b)".
(2)  In SECTION 21 of the bill, immediately following added Section 20A.01(1-a), Penal Code (page 7, between lines 55 and 56), insert the following:
(2-a)  "Premises" has the meaning assigned by Section 481.134, Health and Safety Code.
(2-b)  "School" means a public or private primary or secondary school.
(3)  Strike the recital to SECTION 22 of the bill, amending Section 20A.02, Penal Code (page 7, lines 56 and 57), and substitute the following:
SECTION 22.  Section 20A.02, Penal Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(4)  In SECTION 22 of the bill, in amended Section 20A.02(b), Penal Code (page 7, line 58), between "subsection" and the comma, insert "and Subsection (b-1)".
(5)  In SECTION 22 of the bill, immediately following amended Section 20A.02(b), Penal Code (page 8, between lines 3 and 4), insert the following:
(b-1)  An offense under this section is a felony of the first degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life or for a term of not more than 99 years or less than 25 years if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor committed the offense in a location that was:
(1)  on the premises of or within 1,000 feet of the premises of a school; or
(2)  on premises or within 1,000 feet of premises where:
(A)  an official school function was taking place; or
(B)  an event sponsored or sanctioned by the University Interscholastic League was taking place.
(6)  Add the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumber subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____.  Subchapter C, Chapter 37, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 37.086 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.086.  REQUIRED POSTING OF WARNING SIGNS OF INCREASED TRAFFICKING PENALTIES. (a) In this section:
(1)  "Premises" has the meaning assigned by Section 481.134, Health and Safety Code.
(2)  "School" means a public or private primary or secondary school.
(b)  Each school shall post warning signs of the increased penalties for trafficking of persons under Section 20A.02(b-1)(2), Penal Code, at the following locations:
(1)  parallel to and along the exterior boundaries of the school's premises;
(2)  at each roadway or other way of access to the premises;
(3)  for premises not fenced, at least every five hundred feet along the exterior boundaries of the premises;
(4)  at each entrance to the premises; and
(5)  at conspicuous places reasonably likely to be viewed by all persons entering the premises.
(c)  The agency, in consultation with the human trafficking prevention task force created under Section 402.035, Government Code, shall adopt rules regarding the placement, installation, design, size, wording, and maintenance procedures for the warning signs required under this section. The rules must require that each warning sign:
(1)  include a description of the provisions of Section 20A.02(b-1), Penal Code, including the penalties for violating that section;
(2)  be written in English and Spanish; and
(3)  be at least 8-1/2 by 11 inches in size.
(d)  The agency shall provide each school without charge the number of warning signs required to comply with this section and rules adopted under this section. If the agency is unable to provide each school with the number of signs necessary to comply with Subsection (b), the agency may:
(1)  provide to a school fewer signs than the number necessary to comply with that section; and
(2)  prioritize distribution of signs to schools based on reports of criminal activity in the areas near that school.
SECTION ____.  Section 33.021, Penal Code, is amended by adding Subsection (f-1) to read as follows:
(f-1)  The punishment for an offense under this section is increased to the punishment prescribed for the next higher category of offense if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
(1)  the actor committed the offense during regular public or private primary or secondary school hours; and
(2)  the actor knew or reasonably should have known that the minor was enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school at the time of the offense.
SECTION ____.  Section 43.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding Subdivisions (1-f) and (2-a) to read as follows.
(1-f)  "Premises" has the meaning assigned by Section 481.134, Health and Safety Code.
(2-a)  "School" means a public or private primary or secondary school.
SECTION ____.  Section 43.02, Penal Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c-2) to read as follows:
(c-2)  The punishment prescribed for an offense under Subsection (b) is increased to the punishment prescribed for the next highest category of offense if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor committed the offense in a location that was:
(1)  on the premises of or within 1,000 feet of the premises of a school; or
(2)  on premises or within 1,000 feet of premises where:
(A)  an official school function was taking place; or
(B)  an event sponsored or sanctioned by the University Interscholastic League was taking place.
SECTION ____.  The Texas Education Agency is required to implement the change in law made by Section 37.086(d), Education Code, as added by this Act, only if the legislature appropriates money specifically for that purpose. If the legislature does not appropriate money specifically for that purpose, the agency may, but is not required to, implement the change in law made by Section 37.086(d), Education Code, as added by this Act, using other appropriations available for that purpose.