H.B. No. 671
AN ACT
relating to the penalty for theft from a nonprofit organization or
by Medicare providers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 31.03(f), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(f) An offense described for purposes of punishment by
Subsections (e)(1)-(6) is increased to the next higher category of
offense if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
(1) the actor was a public servant at the time of the
offense and the property appropriated came into the actor's
custody, possession, or control by virtue of his status as a public
servant;
(2) the actor was in a contractual relationship with
government at the time of the offense and the property appropriated
came into the actor's custody, possession, or control by virtue of
the contractual relationship; [or]
(3) the owner of the property appropriated was at the
time of the offense:
(A) an elderly individual; or
(B) a nonprofit organization; or
(4) the actor was a Medicare provider in a contractual
relationship with the federal government at the time of the offense
and the property appropriated came into the actor's custody,
possession, or control by virtue of the contractual relationship.
SECTION 2. Section 31.03(h), Penal Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
(3) "Nonprofit organization" means an organization
that is exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(a),
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by being described as an exempt
organization by Section 501(c)(3) of that code.
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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 671 was passed by the House on April
21, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 1, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 671 on May 29, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 2
present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 671 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor