Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB171 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Huffman S.B. No. 171
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the addition of an offense for the continuous smuggling
7	7	of persons.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 20.05, Texas Penal Code, is amended to
10	10	read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 20.05. SMUGGLING OF PERSONS.
12	12	(a) A person commits an offense if the person: uses a motor
13	13	vehicle, aircraft, or watercraft to transport an individual with
14	14	the intent to:
15	15	(1) conceal the individual from a peace officer or
16	16	special investigator; or
17	17	(2) flee from a person the actor knows is a peace
18	18	officer or special investigator attempting to lawfully arrest or
19	19	detain the actor;
20	20	(1) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that a
21	21	person has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in
22	22	violation of Title 8 of the U.S. Code, transports, or moves or
23	23	attempts to transport or move such person within the United States
24	24	by means of transportation or otherwise, in furtherance of such
25	25	violation of law;
26	26	(2) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that
27	27	the person has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in
28	28	violation of Title 8 of the U.S. Code, conceals, harbors, or shields
29	29	from detection, such person in any place, including any building or
30	30	any means of transportation or movement; or,
31	31	(3) by encouraging or inducing a person to come to,
32	32	enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless
33	33	disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or
34	34	will be in violation of Title 8 of the U.S. Code.
35	35	(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c), (d), and (e), an
36	36	offense under this section is a state jail felony.
37	37	(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
38	38	degree if the actor commits the offense:
39	39	(1) for pecuniary benefit.; or
40	40	(2)
41	41	(d) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
42	42	degree if the actor commits the offense in a manner that creates a
43	43	substantial likelihood that the transported individual smuggled
44	44	will suffer serious bodily injury or death, or if the individual
45	45	being smuggled was a child younger than 18 years of age.
46	46	(e) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
47	47	degree if the individual smuggled is a victim of sexual assault as
48	48	defined under Penal Code Sec. 22.011 or aggravated sexual assault
49	49	as defined under Penal Code Sec. 22.021, or if the individual
50	50	smuggled suffers serious bodily injury or death. It is an
51	51	affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the
52	52	actor is related to the transported individual within the second
53	53	degree of consanguinity or, at the time of the offense, within the
54	54	second degree of affinity.
55	55	(f) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
56	56	also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the
57	57	actor may be prosecuted under either section or under both
58	58	sections.
59	59	(g) Texas Penal Code Chapter 15 shall apply to any offenses
60	60	including criminal attempt, criminal conspiracy, criminal
61	61	solicitation, and criminal solicitation of a minor committed
62	62	preparatory to the offense of smuggling of persons as defined in
63	63	this section.
64	64	(h) Texas Penal Code Sec. 7.02 shall act to govern the
65	65	criminal responsibility of a person for an offense committed under
66	66	this chapter by the conduct of another.
67	67	SECTION 2. Section 20.06, Texas Penal Code, is amended to
68	68	read as follows:
69	69	Sec. 20.06. CONTINUOUS SMUGGLING OF PERSONS. (a) A person
70	70	commits an offense if the person engages two or more times in
71	71	conduct that constitutes an offense under Section 20.05.
72	72	(b) If the victim of an offense under Subsection (a) is the
73	73	same victim as a victim of an offense under Section 20.05, a
74	74	defendant may not be convicted of the offense under Section 20A.02
75	75	in the same criminal action as the offense under Subsection (a),
76	76	unless the offense under Section 20.05:
77	77	(1) is charged in the alternative;
78	78	(2) occurred outside the period in which the offense
79	79	alleged under Subsection (a) was committed; or
80	80	(3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser
81	81	included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (a).
82	82	(c) A defendant may not be charged with more than one count
83	83	under Subsection (a) if all of the conduct that constitutes an
84	84	offense under Section 20.05 is alleged to have been committed
85	85	against the same victim.
86	86	(d) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
87	87	degree, except as provided under Subsections (e) and (f).
88	88	(e) If any of the conduct engaged in that constitutes an
89	89	offense under Section 20.05 was conducted in a manner that creates a
90	90	substantial likelihood that the transported individual smuggled
91	91	will suffer serious bodily injury or death, or if the individual
92	92	being smuggled was a child younger than 18 years of age, the offense
93	93	shall be a felony of the first degree.
94	94	(f) An offense under this section shall be a felony of the
95	95	first degree, punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of
96	96	Criminal Justice for life or for any term of not more than 99 years
97	97	or less than 25 years, if for any of the conduct engaged in that
98	98	constitutes an offense under Section 20.05 the individual smuggled
99	99	is a victim of sexual assault as defined under Penal Code Sec.
100	100	22.011 or aggravated sexual assault as defined under Penal Code
101	101	Sec. 22.021, or if the individual smuggled suffers serious bodily
102	102	injury or death.
103	103	(g) Texas Penal Code Chapter 15 shall apply to any offenses
104	104	including criminal attempt, criminal conspiracy, criminal
105	105	solicitation, and criminal solicitation of a minor committed
106	106	preparatory to the offense of continuous smuggling of persons as
107	107	defined in this section.
108	108	(h) Texas Penal Code Sec. 7.02 shall act to govern the
109	109	criminal responsibility of a person for an offense committed under
110	110	this chapter by the conduct of another.
111	111	SECTION 3. The change is law made by this Act applies only
112	112	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
113	113	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
114	114	governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
115	115	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
116	116	purposes of this section an offense was committed before the
117	117	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
118	118	before that date.
119	119	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.