Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2054 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R6998 LEH-F
2	2	By: Tinderholt H.B. No. 2054
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to increased penalties for the offense of trafficking of
8	8	persons that involves a child victim or the death of any victim.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 19.03(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
11	11	as follows:
12	12	(a) A person commits an offense if the person commits murder
13	13	as defined under Section 19.02(b)(1) and:
14	14	(1) the person murders a peace officer or fireman who
15	15	is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the
16	16	person knows is a peace officer or fireman;
17	17	(2) the person intentionally commits the murder in the
18	18	course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary,
19	19	robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or
20	20	retaliation, trafficking of persons, or terroristic threat under
21	21	Section 22.07(a)(1), (3), (4), (5), or (6);
22	22	(3) the person commits the murder for remuneration or
23	23	the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder
24	24	for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;
25	25	(4) the person commits the murder while escaping or
26	26	attempting to escape from a penal institution;
27	27	(5) the person, while incarcerated in a penal
28	28	institution, murders another:
29	29	(A) who is employed in the operation of the penal
30	30	institution; or
31	31	(B) with the intent to establish, maintain, or
32	32	participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination;
33	33	(6) the person:
34	34	(A) while incarcerated for an offense under this
35	35	section or Section 19.02, murders another; or
36	36	(B) while serving a sentence of life imprisonment
37	37	or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section 20.04, 22.021, or
38	38	29.03, murders another;
39	39	(7) the person murders more than one person:
40	40	(A) during the same criminal transaction; or
41	41	(B) during different criminal transactions but
42	42	the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of
43	43	conduct;
44	44	(8) the person murders an individual under 10 years of
45	45	age; or
46	46	(9) the person murders another person in retaliation
47	47	for or on account of the service or status of the other person as a
48	48	judge or justice of the supreme court, the court of criminal
49	49	appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, a criminal district
50	50	court, a constitutional county court, a statutory county court, a
51	51	justice court, or a municipal court.
52	52	SECTION 2. Section 20A.02, Penal Code, is amended by
53	53	amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to
54	54	read as follows:
55	55	(b) An [Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, an]
56	56	offense under Subsection (a)(1), (2), (3), or (4) [this section] is
57	57	a felony of the second degree.
58	58	(b-1) An offense under [this section is a felony of the
59	59	first degree if:
60	60	[(1) the applicable conduct constitutes an offense
61	61	under] Subsection (a)(5), (6), (7), or (8) is a felony of the first
62	62	degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of
63	63	Criminal Justice for life or for any term of not more than 99 years
64	64	or less than 25 years, regardless of whether the actor knows the age
65	65	of the child at the time the actor commits the offense.
66	66	(b-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (b) or (b-1), an offense
67	67	under this section is a felony of the first degree punishable by
68	68	imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life
69	69	without parole if [; or
70	70	[(2)] the commission of the offense results in the
71	71	death of the person who is trafficked.
72	72	SECTION 3. Section 2(a), Article 38.37, Code of Criminal
73	73	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
74	74	(a) Subsection (b) applies only to the trial of a defendant
75	75	for:
76	76	(1) an offense under any of the following provisions
77	77	of the Penal Code:
78	78	(A) Section 20A.02(a)(7) or (8) [20A.02, if
79	79	punishable as a felony of the first degree under Section
80	80	20A.02(b)(1)] (Sex Trafficking of a Child);
81	81	(B) Section 21.02 (Continuous Sexual Abuse of
82	82	Young Child or Children);
83	83	(C) Section 21.11 (Indecency With a Child);
84	84	(D) Section 22.011(a)(2) (Sexual Assault of a
85	85	Child);
86	86	(E) Sections 22.021(a)(1)(B) and (2) (Aggravated
87	87	Sexual Assault of a Child);
88	88	(F) Section 33.021 (Online Solicitation of a
89	89	Minor);
90	90	(G) Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a
91	91	Child); or
92	92	(H) Section 43.26 (Possession or Promotion of
93	93	Child Pornography)[, Penal Code]; or
94	94	(2) an attempt or conspiracy to commit an offense
95	95	described by Subdivision (1).
96	96	SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
97	97	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
98	98	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
99	99	governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
100	100	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
101	101	purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
102	102	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
103	103	before that date.
104	104	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.