81R7106 GCB-F
By: Hunter H.B. No. 2873
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the punishment prescribed for the offense of evading
arrest or detention and to creating the offense of evading felony
arrest or detention.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 38.04(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor,
except that the offense is:
(1) a state jail felony if:
(A) the actor has been previously convicted under
this section; or
(B) the actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in
flight and the actor has not been previously convicted under this
section;
(2) a felony of the third degree if:
(A) the actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in
flight and the actor has been previously convicted under this
section; or
(B) another suffers serious bodily injury as a
direct result of an attempt by the officer from whom the actor is
fleeing to apprehend the actor while the actor is in flight; or
(3) a felony of the second degree if another suffers
death as a direct result of an attempt by the officer from whom the
actor is fleeing to apprehend the actor while the actor is in
flight.
SECTION 2. Chapter 38, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Section 38.041 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.041. EVADING FELONY ARREST OR DETENTION. (a) A
person commits an offense if the person intentionally flees from a
peace officer and the person knows:
(1) the person from whom the actor is fleeing is a
peace officer;
(2) the peace officer is attempting lawfully to arrest
or detain the actor as a suspect in the commission of an offense;
and
(3) the offense the actor is suspected of committing
is punishable as a felony.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if
another suffers death as a direct result of an attempt by the
officer from whom the actor is fleeing to apprehend the actor while
the actor is in flight.
SECTION 3. 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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.