Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB148 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	H.B. No. 148
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to the prosecution of the offense of barratry and
6	6	solicitation of professional employment.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. Section 38.12(d), Penal Code, is amended to read
9	9	as follows:
10	10	(d) A person commits an offense if the person:
11	11	(1) is an attorney, chiropractor, physician, surgeon,
12	12	or private investigator licensed to practice in this state or any
13	13	person licensed, certified, or registered by a health care
14	14	regulatory agency of this state; and
15	15	(2) with the intent to obtain professional employment
16	16	for the person [himself] or for another, provides [sends] or
17	17	knowingly permits to be provided [sent] to an individual who has not
18	18	sought the person's employment, legal representation, advice, or
19	19	care a written communication or a solicitation, including a
20	20	solicitation in person or by telephone, that:
21	21	(A) concerns an action for personal injury or
22	22	wrongful death or otherwise relates to an accident or disaster
23	23	involving the person to whom the communication or solicitation is
24	24	provided [addressed] or a relative of that person and that was
25	25	provided [mailed] before the 31st day after the date on which the
26	26	accident or disaster occurred;
27	27	(B) concerns a specific matter and relates to
28	28	legal representation and the person knows or reasonably should know
29	29	that the person to whom the communication or solicitation is
30	30	directed is represented by a lawyer in the matter;
31	31	(C) concerns an arrest of or issuance of a
32	32	summons to the person to whom the communication or solicitation is
33	33	provided [addressed] or a relative of that person and that was
34	34	provided [mailed] before the 31st day after the date on which the
35	35	arrest or issuance of the summons occurred;
36	36	(D) concerns a lawsuit of any kind, including an
37	37	action for divorce, in which the person to whom the communication or
38	38	solicitation is provided [addressed] is a defendant or a relative
39	39	of that person, unless the lawsuit in which the person is named as a
40	40	defendant has been on file for more than 31 days before the date on
41	41	which the communication or solicitation was provided [mailed];
42	42	(E) is provided [sent] or permitted to be
43	43	provided [sent] by a person who knows or reasonably should know that
44	44	the injured person or relative of the injured person has indicated a
45	45	desire not to be contacted by or receive communications or
46	46	solicitations concerning employment;
47	47	(F) involves coercion, duress, fraud,
48	48	overreaching, harassment, intimidation, or undue influence; or
49	49	(G) contains a false, fraudulent, misleading,
50	50	deceptive, or unfair statement or claim.
51	51	SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
52	52	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
53	53	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
54	54	governed by the law in effect at the time the offense was committed,
55	55	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
56	56	purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
57	57	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
58	58	before that date.
59	59	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
60	60	______________________________ ______________________________
61	61	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
62	62	I certify that H.B. No. 148 was passed by the House on May 15,
63	63	2009, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 0, 1 present, not
64	64	voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
65	65	H.B. No. 148 on May 29, 2009, and requested the appointment of a
66	66	conference committee to consider the differences between the two
67	67	houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
68	68	on H.B. No. 148 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 142,
69	69	Nays 1, 1 present, not voting.
70	70	______________________________
71	71	Chief Clerk of the House
72	72	I certify that H.B. No. 148 was passed by the Senate, with
73	73	amendments, on May 26, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
74	74	0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
75	75	committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
76	76	that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
77	77	148 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
78	78	______________________________
79	79	Secretary of the Senate
80	80	APPROVED: __________________
81	81	Date
82	82	__________________
83	83	Governor