BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 272

By: Perez, Mary Ann

Pensions, Investments & Financial Services

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The 86th Legislature passed H.B. 2624 and H.B. 2625 to help combat organized financial crimes such as card skimming. These bills authorized an offense of credit card or debit card abuse to be prosecuted in any county in which the offense was committed or in a county where a victim of the offense resides and created the offense of fraudulent use or possession of credit card or debit card information. H.B. 272 seeks to build on this work in an effort to better fight credit card and debit card skimming related crimes in Texas by extending that venue flexibility to the offense of fraudulent use or possession of credit or debit card information and including such an offense among the offenses for which intent to defraud any particular person does not need to be proved in the trial of the offense.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change 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. 272 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize the prosecution of fraudulent use or possession of credit card or debit card information in any county in which the offense was committed or in the county of residence for any person whose credit card or debit card information was unlawfully obtained, possessed, transferred, or used by the defendant. The bill establishes that the state's attorney is not required to prove that such a defendant committed the act with intent to defraud any particular person and that it is sufficient to prove that the offense was, in its nature, calculated to injure or defraud any of the sovereignties, bodies corporate or politic, officers or persons named in the definition of the offense.

H.B. 272 applies only to a criminal proceeding that commences on or after the bill's effective date. A criminal proceeding that commenced before the bill's effective date is governed by the law in effect on the date the proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.