By: King S.B. No. 1709
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the prosecution of the offenses of sedition and
  engaging in organized criminal activity; increasing criminal
  penalties.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 557.001, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  A person commits an offense if the person knowingly:
               (1)  commits, attempts to commit, or conspires with one
  or more persons to commit an act intended to overthrow,
  destabilize, destroy, or alter the constitutional form of
  government of this state or of any political subdivision of this
  state by force, [or] violence, or a threat of force or violence;
               (2)  under circumstances that constitute a clear and
  present danger to the security of this state or a political
  subdivision of this state, advocates, advises, or teaches or
  conspires with one or more persons to advocate, advise, or teach a
  person to commit or attempt to commit an act described in
  Subdivision (1); or
               (3)  participates, with knowledge of the nature of the
  organization, in the management of an organization that engages in
  or attempts to engage in an act intended to overthrow, destabilize, 
  destroy, or alter the constitutional form of government of this
  state or of any political subdivision of this state by force or
  violence.
         (b-1)  Notwithstanding Section 15.02(d), Penal Code, a
  conspiracy to commit an offense under this section is punishable in
  the same manner as an offense under this section. 
         SECTION 2.  Section 71.02, Penal Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 71.02.  ENGAGING IN ORGANIZED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. (a)  A
  person commits an offense if, with the intent to establish,
  maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a
  combination or as a member of a criminal street gang or
  transnational criminal organization, the person commits or
  conspires to commit one or more of the following:
               (1)  murder, capital murder, arson, aggravated
  robbery, robbery, burglary, theft, aggravated kidnapping,
  kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual
  assault, continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled
  individual, solicitation of a minor, forgery, deadly conduct,
  assault punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, burglary of a motor
  vehicle, or unauthorized use of a motor vehicle;
               (2)  any gambling offense punishable as a Class A
  misdemeanor;
               (3)  promotion of prostitution, aggravated promotion
  of prostitution, or compelling prostitution;
               (4)  unlawful manufacture, transportation, repair, or
  sale of firearms or prohibited weapons;
               (5)  unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation, or
  distribution of, or unlawful possession with the intent to deliver
  a controlled substance or dangerous drug, or unlawful possession of
  a controlled substance or dangerous drug through forgery, fraud,
  misrepresentation, or deception;
               (5-a) causing the unlawful delivery, dispensation, or
  distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug in
  violation of Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code;
               (6)  any unlawful wholesale promotion or possession of
  any obscene material or obscene device with the intent to wholesale
  promote the same;
               (7)  any offense under Subchapter B, Chapter 43,
  depicting or involving conduct by or directed toward a child
  younger than 18 years of age;
               (8)  any felony offense under Chapter 32;
               (9)  any offense under Chapter 36;
               (10)  any offense under Chapter 34, 35, or 35A;
               (11)  any offense under Section 37.11(a);
               (12)  any offense under Chapter 20A;
               (13)  any offense under Section 37.10;
               (14)  any offense under Section 38.06, 38.07, 38.09, or
  38.11;
               (15)  any offense under Section 42.10;
               (16)  any offense under Section 46.06(a)(1) or 46.14;
               (17)  any offense under Section 20.05 or 20.06;
               (18)  any offense under Section 16.02; or
               (19)  any offense classified as a felony under the Tax
  Code.
         (b)  Except as provided in Subsections (c), [and] (d), and
  (e), an offense under this section is one category higher than the
  most serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that was committed,
  and if the most serious offense is a Class A misdemeanor, the
  offense is a state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony
  of the first degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas
  Department of Criminal Justice for:
               (1)  life without parole, if the most serious offense
  is an aggravated sexual assault and if at the time of that offense
  the defendant is 18 years of age or older and:
                     (A)  the victim of the offense is younger than six
  years of age;
                     (B)  the victim of the offense is younger than 14
  years of age and the actor commits the offense in a manner described
  by Section 22.021(a)(2)(A); or
                     (C)  the victim of the offense is younger than 17
  years of age and suffered serious bodily injury as a result of the
  offense;
               (2)  life or for any term of not more than 99 years or
  less than 30 years if the most serious offense is an offense under
  Section 20.06 that is punishable under Subsection (g) of that
  section; or
               (3)  life or for any term of not more than 99 years or
  less than 15 years if the most serious offense is an offense
  punishable as a felony of the first degree, other than an offense
  described by Subdivision (1) or (2).
         (c)  Notwithstanding Section 15.02(d), a conspiracy
  [Conspiring] to commit an offense under this section is punishable
  in [is of] the same manner as an offense under this section [degree
  as the most serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that the person
  conspired to commit].
         (d)  At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may
  raise the issue as to whether in voluntary and complete
  renunciation of the offense he withdrew from the combination before
  commission of an offense listed in Subsection (a) and made
  substantial effort to prevent the commission of the offense.  If the
  defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of
  the evidence the offense is the same category of offense as the most
  serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that is committed[, unless
  the defendant is convicted of conspiring to commit the offense, in
  which event the offense is one category lower than the most serious
  offense that the defendant conspired to commit].
         (e)  An offense that is punishable as a second degree felony
  or as any lower category of offense under Subsection (b) is one
  additional category higher than the category listed under
  Subsection (b) if the person used or exhibited a deadly weapon
  during the commission of one or more of the offenses listed under
  Subsection (a) and if an offense is punishable as a Class A
  misdemeanor under Subsection (b), the offense is a state jail
  felony.
         (f)  In this section, "transnational criminal organization"
  means two or more persons with an identifiable leadership who
  operate internationally and who continuously or regularly
  associate to engage in corruption, violence, or the commission of
  other criminal activities.
         SECTION 3.  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 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.