Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB36 Compare Versions

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1	1	83R25054 MEW-F
2	2	By: Menendez H.B. No. 36
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 36:
4	4	By: Herrero C.S.H.B. No. 36
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the criminal penalty for and certain civil consequences
10	10	of damaging property with graffiti.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 28.08, Penal Code, is amended by
13	13	amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsections (c-1) and
14	14	(c-2) to read as follows:
15	15	(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c-1) and
16	16	[Subsection] (d), an offense under this section is:
17	17	(1) a Class B misdemeanor if the amount of pecuniary
18	18	loss is less than $500;
19	19	(2) a Class A misdemeanor if the amount of pecuniary
20	20	loss is $500 or more but less than $1,500;
21	21	(3) a state jail felony if the amount of pecuniary loss
22	22	is $1,500 or more but less than $20,000;
23	23	(4) a felony of the third degree if the amount of
24	24	pecuniary loss is $20,000 or more but less than $100,000;
25	25	(5) a felony of the second degree if the amount of
26	26	pecuniary loss is $100,000 or more but less than $200,000; or
27	27	(6) a felony of the first degree if the amount of
28	28	pecuniary loss is $200,000 or more.
29	29	(c-1) An offense under this section is increased to the next
30	30	higher category of offense if it is shown on the trial of the
31	31	offense that the defendant has been previously convicted of an
32	32	offense under this section.
33	33	(c-2) For the purposes of Subsection (c-1):
34	34	(1) a defendant has been previously convicted of an
35	35	offense under this section if the defendant was adjudged guilty of
36	36	the offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return
37	37	for a grant of deferred adjudication, regardless of whether the
38	38	sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether the sentence
39	39	was probated and the defendant was subsequently discharged from
40	40	community supervision; and
41	41	(2) a conviction under the laws of another state for an
42	42	offense containing elements that are substantially similar to the
43	43	elements of an offense under this section is a conviction of an
44	44	offense under this section.
45	45	(d) An offense under this section is a state jail felony if:
46	46	(1) the marking is made on:
47	47	(A) a school, an institution of higher education,
48	48	a place of worship or human burial, a public monument, a city hall,
49	49	a courthouse, or a historic structure;
50	50	(B) a cultural resource site or area, such as a
51	51	site or area containing petroglyphs or pictographs; or
52	52	(C) a community center that provides medical,
53	53	social, or educational programs; and
54	54	(2) the amount of the pecuniary loss to real property
55	55	or to tangible personal property is less than $20,000.
56	56	SECTION 2. Section 28.08(e), Penal Code, is amended by
57	57	adding Subdivisions (1-a) and (2-a) to read as follows:
58	58	(1-a) "Cultural resource site or area" means a
59	59	publicly or privately owned site or area having valuable and
60	60	vulnerable cultural or historic resources.
61	61	(2-a) "Historic structure" means a structure that:
62	62	(A) is publicly owned and included on the
63	63	National Register of Historic Places;
64	64	(B) is designated as a Recorded Texas Historic
65	65	Landmark; or
66	66	(C) is designated as a State Archeological
67	67	Landmark.
68	68	SECTION 3. Section 125.061(3), Civil Practice and Remedies
69	69	Code, is amended to read as follows:
70	70	(3) "Gang activity" means the following types of
71	71	conduct:
72	72	(A) organized criminal activity as described by
73	73	Section 71.02, Penal Code;
74	74	(B) terroristic threat as described by Section
75	75	22.07, Penal Code;
76	76	(C) coercing, soliciting, or inducing gang
77	77	membership as described by Section 71.022 [71.022(a) or (a-1)],
78	78	Penal Code;
79	79	(D) criminal trespass as described by Section
80	80	30.05, Penal Code;
81	81	(E) disorderly conduct as described by Section
82	82	42.01, Penal Code;
83	83	(F) criminal mischief as described by Section
84	84	28.03, Penal Code, that causes a pecuniary loss of $500 or more;
85	85	(G) a graffiti offense in violation of Section
86	86	28.08, Penal Code;
87	87	(H) a weapons offense in violation of Chapter 46,
88	88	Penal Code; or
89	89	(I) unlawful possession of a substance or other
90	90	item in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code.
91	91	SECTION 4. Section 11(k), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
92	92	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
93	93	(k) A court granting community supervision to a defendant
94	94	convicted of an offense under Section 28.08, Penal Code, shall
95	95	require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant
96	96	submit to not less than 12 and not more than 48 hours of confinement
97	97	in county jail and that the defendant, after release from jail,
98	98	perform:
99	99	(1) at least 15 hours of community service if the
100	100	amount of pecuniary loss resulting from the commission of the
101	101	offense is $50 or more but less than $500; or
102	102	(2) at least 30 hours of community service if the
103	103	amount of pecuniary loss resulting from the commission of the
104	104	offense is $500 or more.
105	105	SECTION 5. Section 54.0481, Family Code, is amended by
106	106	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) to
107	107	read as follows:
108	108	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), a [A] juvenile
109	109	court, in a disposition hearing under Section 54.04 regarding a
110	110	child who has been adjudicated to have engaged in delinquent
111	111	conduct that violates Section 28.08, Penal Code:
112	112	(1) may order the child or a parent or other person
113	113	responsible for the child's support to make restitution by:
114	114	(A) reimbursing the owner of the property for the
115	115	cost of restoring the property; or
116	116	(B) with the consent of the owner of the
117	117	property, personally restoring the property by removing or painting
118	118	over any markings the child made; and
119	119	(2) if the child made markings on public property, a
120	120	street sign, or an official traffic-control device in violation of
121	121	Section 28.08, Penal Code, may order the child or a parent or other
122	122	person responsible for the child's support to:
123	123	(A) make to the political subdivision that owns
124	124	the public property or erected the street sign or official
125	125	traffic-control device restitution in an amount equal to the lesser
126	126	of the cost to the political subdivision of replacing or restoring
127	127	the public property, street sign, or official traffic-control
128	128	device; or
129	129	(B) with the consent of the political
130	130	subdivision, restore the public property, street sign, or official
131	131	traffic-control device by removing or painting over any markings
132	132	made by the child on the property, sign, or device.
133	133	(a-1) A juvenile court, in a disposition hearing described
134	134	by Subsection (a) involving a child who has previously been
135	135	adjudicated for having engaged in delinquent conduct that violates
136	136	Section 28.08, Penal Code, in addition to any other disposition
137	137	ordered, if the child made markings on a historic structure or other
138	138	property described in Section 28.08(d), Penal Code, or private
139	139	property, shall order the child and the parent or other person
140	140	responsible for the child's support to make restitution by
141	141	personally restoring the property by removing or painting over any
142	142	markings the child made, with the consent of the owner of the
143	143	property.
144	144	(a-2) A juvenile court may not require that a child or a
145	145	child's parent or other person responsible for the child's support
146	146	personally restore the property under this section if:
147	147	(1) the child, parent, or other person is physically
148	148	or mentally incapable of participating in the restoration; or
149	149	(2) the restoration is inherently dangerous or would
150	150	otherwise endanger the health or safety of the child, parent, or
151	151	other person.
152	152	SECTION 6. Section 521.320, Transportation Code, is amended
153	153	to read as follows:
154	154	Sec. 521.320. SUSPENSION FOR CONVICTION OR ADJUDICATION
155	155	INVOLVING GRAFFITI [CERTAIN CRIMINAL MISCHIEF]; LICENSE DENIAL.
156	156	(a) A court shall [may] order the department to suspend a person's
157	157	driver's license on conviction of an offense under Section 28.08,
158	158	Penal Code. A juvenile court shall order the department to suspend
159	159	a person's provisional license or driver's license if the person has
160	160	been adjudicated to have engaged in delinquent conduct that
161	161	violates Section 28.08, Penal Code.
162	162	(b) A court shall [may] order the department to deny an
163	163	application for reinstatement or issuance of a driver's license to
164	164	a person convicted of an offense under Section 28.08, Penal Code,
165	165	who, on the date of the conviction, did not hold a driver's license.
166	166	A juvenile court shall order the department to deny an application
167	167	for reinstatement or issuance of a provisional license or driver's
168	168	license to a person who has been adjudicated to have engaged in
169	169	delinquent conduct that violates Section 28.08, Penal Code, and
170	170	who, on the date of the adjudication, did not hold a provisional
171	171	license or driver's license.
172	172	(c) The period of suspension under this section is two years
173	173	[one year] after the date of a final conviction or the date on which
174	174	the disposition is made, as applicable. The period of license
175	175	denial is two years [one year] after the date the person applies to
176	176	the department for reinstatement or issuance of a provisional
177	177	license or driver's license.
178	178	(d) The department may not reinstate a provisional license
179	179	or driver's license suspended under Subsection (a) unless the
180	180	person whose license was suspended applies to the department for
181	181	reinstatement.
182	182	(e) A person whose license is suspended under Subsection (a)
183	183	remains eligible to receive an occupational license under
184	184	Subchapter L or a hardship license under Section 521.223.
185	185	(f) For the purposes of this section, a person is convicted
186	186	of an offense regardless of whether the sentence is imposed or the
187	187	person is placed on community supervision for the offense under
188	188	Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure.
189	189	SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act in amending
190	190	Section 11(k), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, Section
191	191	54.0481, Family Code, Section 28.08, Penal Code, and Section
192	192	521.320, Transportation Code, apply only to an offense committed,
193	193	or conduct violating a penal law that occurs, on or after the
194	194	effective date of this Act. An offense committed, or conduct
195	195	violating a penal law that occurs, before the effective date of this
196	196	Act is governed by the law in effect when the offense was committed
197	197	or the conduct occurred, and the former law is continued in effect
198	198	for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was
199	199	committed, or conduct violating a penal law occurred, before the
200	200	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense or
201	201	violation occurred before that date.
202	202	SECTION 8. The change in law made by this Act in amending
203	203	Section 125.061, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, applies only to
204	204	a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of
205	205	this Act. A cause of action that accrued before the effective date
206	206	of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
207	207	effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
208	208	that purpose.
209	209	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.