By: Phelan, Fallon (Senate Sponsor - Nichols) H.B. No. 2589
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2015;
May 6, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 21, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 21, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE VOTE
YeaNayAbsentPNV
WhitmireX
HuffmanX
BurtonX
CreightonX
HinojosaX
MenéndezX
PerryX
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of and punishment for assaulting a
disabled individual; increasing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 22.021(b), Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (2) and adding Subdivision (3) to read as
follows:
(2) "Elderly individual" has [and "disabled
individual" have] the meaning [meanings] assigned by Section
22.04(c).
(3) "Disabled individual" means a person older than 13
years of age who by reason of age or physical or mental disease,
defect, or injury is substantially unable to protect the person's
self from harm or to provide food, shelter, or medical care for the
person's self.
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 was
committed before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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