81R3353 GCB-D
By: Miller of Comal H.B. No. 2789
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to creating a presumption regarding the possession of a
controlled substance by a person who gives birth to a child who
tests positive for the substance.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 481.115, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
section that a person gave birth to a child and, within 72 hours
after the birth, a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group 1
was found present in the body of the child, there is a rebuttable
presumption that the person knowingly possessed less than one gram
of that controlled substance in the county in which the child was
born within the 30 days preceding the date of the birth.
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
covered by the law in effect when 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 was committed before that
date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.