BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 420

By: Slawson

Licensing & Administrative Procedures

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

A constituent's son was provided alcohol by another parent when he was a teenager. On the teenager's drive home, an accident occurred due to his impairment that took the life of the teenager and another passenger in the car. Despite the loss of life, the adult who provided the alcohol could only be charged with up to a Class A misdemeanor for providing alcohol to a minor. There is no enhancement to that penalty in current law for a circumstance in which the minor causes injury or bodily harm as a result of that alcohol consumption. H.B. 420 seeks to address this issue by enhancing the penalty for the offense of purchasing alcohol for or furnishing alcohol to a minor to a state jail felony for someone who is found to have provided or made available alcohol to a minor who then, due to their impairment, caused another person serious injury or death.

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

H.B. 420 amends the Alcoholic Beverage Code to remove the element of criminal negligence from all forms of conduct constituting the offense of purchasing alcohol for or furnishing alcohol to a minor. However, the bill retains criminal negligence as an element of the conduct of making alcohol available to a minor for purposes of constituting such an offense. The bill enhances the penalty for the offense from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person purchased an alcoholic beverage for or gave or made an alcoholic beverage available to a minor who, as a result of the consumption of the alcoholic beverage, caused another person to suffer serious bodily injury or death.

H.B. 420 applies only to an offense committed on or after the bill's effective date. The bill provides for the continuation of the law in effect before the bill's effective date for purposes of an offense, or any element thereof, that occurred before that date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.