84R205 JSC-D
By: Guillen H.B. No. 222
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the offense of continuous violence against the family.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 25.11(a) and (b), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if, during a period that is
24 [12] months or less in duration, the person two or more times
engages in conduct that constitutes an offense under Section
22.01(a)(1) against another person or persons whose relationship to
or association with the defendant is described by Section
71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code.
(b) If the jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are
not required to agree unanimously on the specific conduct in which
the defendant engaged that constituted an offense under Section
22.01(a)(1) against the person or persons described by Subsection
(a) or the exact date when that conduct occurred. The jury must
agree unanimously that the defendant, during a period that is 24
[12] months or less in duration, two or more times engaged in
conduct that constituted an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1)
against the person or persons described by Subsection (a).
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.