84R6024 KJE-D By: Fletcher H.B. No. 1082 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of obstructing a highway or other passageway. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 42.03(c), Penal Code, is amended to read as follows: (c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor, except that the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if, in committing the offense, the actor used a device that is intended to hinder removal of an obstruction. 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 September 1, 2015.