81R13796 CAE-F
By: Madden H.B. No. 3908
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain offenses involving public and private schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.107, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.107. TRESPASS ON SCHOOL GROUNDS. (a) An
unauthorized person who trespasses on the grounds of any school
district of this state commits an offense. An offense under this
section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a student who is on the
grounds of the school campus the student attends.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 37.123, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 37.123. OBSTRUCTIVE [DISRUPTIVE] ACTIVITIES.
SECTION 3. Section 37.123, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person, alone or in
concert with others, intentionally engages in obstructive
[disruptive] activity on the campus or property of any private or
public school.
(b) For purposes of this section, obstructive [disruptive]
activity is:
(1) obstructing or restraining the passage of persons
in an exit, entrance, or hallway of a building without the
authorization of the administration of the school;
(2) seizing control of a building or portion of a
building to interfere with an administrative, educational,
research, or other authorized activity;
(3) preventing, disrupting, or attempting to prevent
or disrupt by force or violence or the threat of force or violence a
lawful assembly authorized by the school administration so that a
person attempting to participate in the assembly is unable to
participate due to the use of force or violence or due to a
reasonable fear that force or violence is likely to occur; or
(4) [disrupting by force or violence or the threat of
force or violence a lawful assembly in progress; or
[(5)] obstructing or restraining the passage of a
person at an exit or entrance to the campus or property or
preventing or attempting to prevent by force or violence or by
threats of force or violence the ingress or egress of a person to or
from the property or campus without the authorization of the
administration of the school.
(b-1) In this section, "obstruct" has the meaning assigned
by Section 42.03, Penal Code.
SECTION 4. Section 37.124, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) Subsection (a) does not apply to a student who is on
the school campus or within 500 feet of the school campus the
student attends.
SECTION 5. Section 37.126, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) Subsection (a) does not apply to a child who attends
the school to or from which the children are being transported.
SECTION 6. Section 51.935(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) For purposes of this section, disruptive activity is:
(1) obstructing or restraining the passage of persons
in an exit, entrance, or hallway of a building without the
authorization of the administration of the institution of higher
education;
(2) seizing control of a building or portion of a
building to interfere with an administrative, educational,
research, or other authorized activity;
(3) preventing or attempting to prevent by force or
violence or the threat of force or violence a lawful assembly
authorized by the administration of the institution of higher
education so that a person attempting to participate in the
assembly is unable to participate due to the use of force or
violence or due to a reasonable fear that force or violence is
likely to occur;
(4) disrupting by force or violence or the threat of
force or violence a lawful assembly in progress; or
(5) obstructing or restraining the passage of a person
at an exit or entrance to the campus or property or preventing or
attempting to prevent by force or violence or by threats of force or
violence the ingress or egress of a person to or from the property
or campus without the authorization of the administration of the
institution of higher education [activity described by Section
37.123(b)].
SECTION 7. Section 37.123(d), Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 at the time the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For the
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 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.