| 1 | 1 | | 84R205 JSC-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Guillen H.B. No. 222 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the offense of continuous violence against the family. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Sections 25.11(a) and (b), Penal Code, are |
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| 10 | 10 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | (a) A person commits an offense if, during a period that is |
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| 12 | 12 | | 24 [12] months or less in duration, the person two or more times |
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| 13 | 13 | | engages in conduct that constitutes an offense under Section |
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| 14 | 14 | | 22.01(a)(1) against another person or persons whose relationship to |
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| 15 | 15 | | or association with the defendant is described by Section |
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| 16 | 16 | | 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code. |
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| 17 | 17 | | (b) If the jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are |
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| 18 | 18 | | not required to agree unanimously on the specific conduct in which |
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| 19 | 19 | | the defendant engaged that constituted an offense under Section |
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| 20 | 20 | | 22.01(a)(1) against the person or persons described by Subsection |
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| 21 | 21 | | (a) or the exact date when that conduct occurred. The jury must |
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| 22 | 22 | | agree unanimously that the defendant, during a period that is 24 |
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| 23 | 23 | | [12] months or less in duration, two or more times engaged in |
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| 24 | 24 | | conduct that constituted an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1) |
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| 25 | 25 | | against the person or persons described by Subsection (a). |
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| 26 | 26 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 27 | 27 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 28 | 28 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 29 | 29 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 30 | 30 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 31 | 31 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 32 | 32 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 33 | 33 | | before that date. |
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| 34 | 34 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
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