87R7890 MCF-D
 
  By: Crockett H.B. No. 1503
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the punishment for the offense of criminal trespass.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 30.05(d), (d-1), (d-2), and (h), Penal
  Code, are amended 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 (2) [(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
               (2) [(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;
                     (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)(2)(B) [(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)(2)(B) [(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)(2)(B) [(d)(3)(B)] does not apply.
         (h)  At the punishment stage of a trial in which the attorney
  representing the state seeks the increase in punishment provided by
  Subsection (d)(2)(A)(iii) [(d)(3)(A)(iii)], the defendant may
  raise the issue as to whether the defendant entered or remained on
  or in a critical infrastructure facility as part of a peaceful or
  lawful assembly, including an attempt to exercise rights guaranteed
  by state or federal labor laws.  If the defendant proves the issue
  in the affirmative by a preponderance of the evidence, the increase
  in punishment provided by Subsection (d)(2)(A)(iii)
  [(d)(3)(A)(iii)] does not apply.
         SECTION 2.  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 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.