| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the creation of the criminal offense of unlawful |
|
|
disclosure of residence address or telephone number. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 42, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Section 42.074 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 42.074. UNLAWFUL DISCLOSURE OF RESIDENCE ADDRESS OR |
|
|
TELEPHONE NUMBER. (a) A person commits an offense if the person |
|
|
posts on a publicly accessible website the residence address or |
|
|
telephone number of an individual with the intent to cause harm or a |
|
|
threat of harm to the individual or a member of the individual's |
|
|
family or household. |
|
|
(b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor, |
|
|
except that the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the offense |
|
|
results in the bodily injury of: |
|
|
(1) the individual whose residence address or |
|
|
telephone number was posted on a publicly accessible website; or |
|
|
(2) a member of the individual's family or household. |
|
|
(c) For purposes of Subsection (a), it is prima facie |
|
|
evidence of the intent to cause harm or a threat of harm to an |
|
|
individual whose residence address or telephone number was posted |
|
|
on a publicly accessible website or to a member of the individual's |
|
|
family or household if the actor: |
|
|
(1) receives a written demand from the individual to |
|
|
not disclose the address or telephone number for reasons of safety; |
|
|
and |
|
|
(2) either: |
|
|
(A) fails to remove the address or telephone |
|
|
number from the publicly accessible website within a period of 48 |
|
|
hours after receiving the demand; or |
|
|
(B) reposts the address or telephone number on |
|
|
the same or a different publicly accessible website, or makes the |
|
|
information publicly available through another medium, within a |
|
|
period of four years after receiving the demand. |
|
|
(d) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this |
|
|
section also constitutes an offense under Section 36.06(a-1), the |
|
|
actor may be prosecuted under either section but not both. |
|
|
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |