88R7784 MZM-D
 
  By: Campos H.B. No. 1421
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to increasing the criminal penalty for a peace officer who
  fails to report the suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an
  elderly person or a person with a disability.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 48.052(a), Human Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A person commits an offense if the person has cause to
  believe that an elderly person or person with a disability has been
  abused, neglected, or exploited or is in the state of abuse,
  neglect, or exploitation and knowingly fails to report in
  accordance with this chapter. An offense under this subsection is a
  Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony
  if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
               (1)  the abused, neglected, or exploited person is a
  person with an intellectual disability who resided in a state
  supported living center, the ICF-IID component of the Rio Grande
  State Center, or a facility licensed under Chapter 252, Health and
  Safety Code, and the actor knew that the person had suffered serious
  bodily injury as a result of the abuse, neglect, or exploitation; or
               (2)  the actor is a peace officer who encountered the
  abused, neglected, or exploited person in the course of discharging
  duties as a peace officer.
         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, 2023.