| 1 | 1 | | 81R356 HLT-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Bonnen H.B. No. 958 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the punishment for aggravated assault of emergency |
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| 8 | 8 | | services personnel; imposing a criminal penalty. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Sections 22.02(b), (c), and (d), Penal Code, are |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second |
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| 13 | 13 | | degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first degree if: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) the actor uses a deadly weapon during the |
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| 15 | 15 | | commission of the assault and causes serious bodily injury to a |
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| 16 | 16 | | person whose relationship to or association with the defendant is |
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| 17 | 17 | | described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code; or |
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| 18 | 18 | | (2) regardless of whether the offense is committed |
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| 19 | 19 | | under Subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2), the offense is committed: |
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| 20 | 20 | | (A) by a public servant acting under color of the |
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| 21 | 21 | | servant's office or employment; |
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| 22 | 22 | | (B) against a person the actor knows is a public |
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| 23 | 23 | | servant while the public servant is lawfully discharging an |
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| 24 | 24 | | official duty, or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of |
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| 25 | 25 | | official power or performance of an official duty as a public |
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| 26 | 26 | | servant; |
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| 27 | 27 | | (C) in retaliation against or on account of the |
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| 28 | 28 | | service of another as a witness, prospective witness, informant, or |
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| 29 | 29 | | person who has reported the occurrence of a crime; [or] |
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| 30 | 30 | | (D) against a person the actor knows is a |
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| 31 | 31 | | security officer while the officer is performing a duty as a |
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| 32 | 32 | | security officer; or |
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| 33 | 33 | | (E) against a person the actor knows is emergency |
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| 34 | 34 | | services personnel while the person is providing emergency |
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| 35 | 35 | | services. |
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| 36 | 36 | | (c) The actor is presumed to have known the person assaulted |
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| 37 | 37 | | was a public servant, [or] a security officer, or emergency |
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| 38 | 38 | | services personnel if the person was wearing a distinctive uniform |
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| 39 | 39 | | or badge indicating the person's employment as a public servant or |
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| 40 | 40 | | status as a security officer or emergency services personnel. |
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| 41 | 41 | | (d) In this section: |
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| 42 | 42 | | (1) "Emergency services personnel" has the meaning |
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| 43 | 43 | | assigned by Section 22.01. |
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| 44 | 44 | | (2) "Security officer" [, "security officer"] means a |
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| 45 | 45 | | commissioned security officer as defined by Section 1702.002, |
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| 46 | 46 | | Occupations Code, or a noncommissioned security officer registered |
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| 47 | 47 | | under Section 1702.221, Occupations Code. |
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| 48 | 48 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 49 | 49 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 50 | 50 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 51 | 51 | | governed by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and |
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| 52 | 52 | | the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 53 | 53 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 54 | 54 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was |
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| 55 | 55 | | committed before that date. |
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| 56 | 56 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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