| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain conduct |
|
|
constituting the offense of solicitation of prostitution. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 43.021(b), Penal Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(b) An offense under Subsection (a) is a state jail felony, |
|
|
except that the offense is: |
|
|
(1) a felony of the third degree if: |
|
|
(A) the actor has previously been convicted of an |
|
|
offense under Subsection (a) or under Section 43.02(b), as that law |
|
|
existed before September 1, 2021; or |
|
|
(B) the person to whom the actor offers or agrees |
|
|
to pay the fee for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct: |
|
|
(i) is engaging in the sexual conduct as a |
|
|
victim of an offense under Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8), |
|
|
regardless of whether the actor knows the person is a victim at the |
|
|
time of the offense; and |
|
|
(ii) is not a person described by |
|
|
Subdivision (2)(A), (B), or (C); or |
|
|
(2) a felony of the second degree if the person to whom |
|
|
the actor offers or agrees to pay the fee for the purpose of |
|
|
engaging in sexual conduct is: |
|
|
(A) younger than 18 years of age, regardless of |
|
|
whether the actor knows the age of the person at the time of the |
|
|
offense; |
|
|
(B) represented to the actor as being younger |
|
|
than 18 years of age; or |
|
|
(C) believed by the actor to be younger than 18 |
|
|
years of age. |
|
|
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, 2025. |