By: Burnam H.B. No. 60
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of force in defense of property.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 9.41, Penal Code, is amended by amending
Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(b) A person unlawfully dispossessed of land or tangible,
movable property by another is justified in using force against the
other when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force
is immediately necessary to reenter the land or recover the
property if:
(1) the actor uses the force immediately or in fresh
pursuit after the dispossession and:
(A) [(1)] the actor reasonably believes the
other had no claim of right when he dispossessed the actor; or
(B) [(2)] the other accomplished the
dispossession by using force, threat, or fraud against the actor;
and
(2) the dispossession was not an element of a criminal
offense the actor committed or attempted to commit.
(c) For purposes of Subsection (b)(2), a dispossession is
presumed not to have been an element of any commission or attempted
commission of a criminal offense by the actor. This presumption may
be refuted only if the state proves by a preponderance of the
evidence that the actor committed or attempted to commit a criminal
offense and that the dispossession was an element of that offense.
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 on the date 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 occurred
before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
last day of the legislative session.