By: Huffman  S.B. No. 1653
         (In the Senate - Filed March 6, 2023; March 16, 2023, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
  April 12, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
  Nays 0; April 12, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the punishment for the offense of promotion of
  prostitution.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 43.03(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (b)  An offense under this section is a felony of the third
  degree, except that the offense is:
               (1)  a felony of the second degree if the actor has been
  previously convicted of an offense under this section; or
               (2)  a felony of the first degree if the actor engages
  in conduct described by Subsection (a)(1) or (2) involving a person
  younger than 18 years of age [engaging in prostitution], regardless
  of whether the actor knows the age of the person at the time of the
  offense.
         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.
 
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