BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	H.B. 4996
89R13867 EAS-D	By: Dyson; Lujan (Flores)
	Criminal Justice
	5/16/2025
	Engrossed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Public servants are highly susceptible to having fraudulent liens filed against them by citizens who are unsatisfied with a decision made by the public servant. When public servants such as judges, prosecutors, legislators, school officials, and corrections officers are not protected while making decisions, fear of retaliation against those decisions can corrupt the deliberative process.

H.B. 4996 seeks to deter this abuse of public servants by increasing the penalty for refusal to execute the release of a fraudulent lien or claim if the owner of the real or personal property subject to the fraudulent lien is a person the actor knows is a public servant.

H.B. 4996 amends the Penal Code to increase the penalty for refusal to execute the release of a fraudulent lien or claim from a Class A misdemeanor to a third degree felony if the owner of the real or personal property subject to the fraudulent lien or claim is a person the actor knows is a public servant.

H.B. 4996 amends current law relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of refusal to execute the release of a fraudulent lien or claim.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 32.49(c), Penal Code, to provide that an offense under Section 32.49 (Refusal to Execute Release of Fraudulent Lien or Claim) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if the owner of the real or personal property subject to the fraudulent lien or claim is a person the actor knows is a public servant.

SECTION 2.� Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 3.� Effective date: September 1, 2025.