81R356 HLT-D
By: Bonnen, Riddle H.B. No. 958
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the punishment for aggravated assault of emergency
services personnel; imposing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 22.02(b), (c), and (d), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first degree if:
(1) the actor uses a deadly weapon during the
commission of the assault and causes serious bodily injury to a
person whose relationship to or association with the defendant is
described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code; or
(2) regardless of whether the offense is committed
under Subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2), the offense is committed:
(A) by a public servant acting under color of the
servant's office or employment;
(B) against a person the actor knows is a public
servant while the public servant is lawfully discharging an
official duty, or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of
official power or performance of an official duty as a public
servant;
(C) in retaliation against or on account of the
service of another as a witness, prospective witness, informant, or
person who has reported the occurrence of a crime; [or]
(D) against a person the actor knows is a
security officer while the officer is performing a duty as a
security officer; or
(E) against a person the actor knows is emergency
services personnel while the person is providing emergency
services.
(c) The actor is presumed to have known the person assaulted
was a public servant, [or] a security officer, or emergency
services personnel if the person was wearing a distinctive uniform
or badge indicating the person's employment as a public servant or
status as a security officer or emergency services personnel.
(d) In this section:
(1) "Emergency services personnel" has the meaning
assigned by Section 22.01.
(2) "Security officer" [, "security officer"] means a
commissioned security officer as defined by Section 1702.002,
Occupations Code, or a noncommissioned security officer registered
under Section 1702.221, Occupations Code.
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
governed 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.