85R10646 JCG-D
By: Kuempel H.B. No. 2531
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of the offense of disorderly conduct.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 42.01, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (a-1) and adding Subsections (a-2) and
(b-1) to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person [he]
intentionally or knowingly:
(1) uses abusive, indecent, profane, or vulgar
language in a public place, and the language by its very utterance
tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace;
(2) makes an offensive gesture or display in a public
place, and the gesture or display tends to incite an immediate
breach of the peace;
(3) creates, by chemical means, a noxious and
unreasonable odor in a public place;
(4) abuses or threatens a person in a public place in
an obviously offensive manner;
(5) makes unreasonable noise in a public place other
than a sport shooting range, as defined by Section 250.001, Local
Government Code, or in or near a private residence that the person
[he] has no right to occupy;
(6) fights with another in a public place;
(7) discharges a firearm in a public place other than a
public road or a sport shooting range, as defined by Section
250.001, Local Government Code;
(8) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a
public place in a manner calculated to alarm;
(9) discharges a firearm on or across a public road;
(10) exposes the person's [his] anus or genitals in a
public place and is reckless about whether another may be present
who will be offended or alarmed by the person's [his] act; [or]
(11) for a lewd or unlawful purpose:
(A) enters on the property of another and looks
into a dwelling on the property through any window or other opening
in the dwelling;
(B) while on the premises of a hotel or
comparable establishment, looks into a guest room not the person's
own through a window or other opening in the room; or
(C) while on the premises of a public place,
looks into an area such as a restroom or shower stall or changing or
dressing room that is designed to provide privacy to a person using
the area; or
(12) detonates a binary explosive within two miles of
a private residence during the period between sunset and sunrise.
(a-1) For purposes of this section [Subsection (a)], the
term "public place" includes a public school campus or the school
grounds on which a public school is located.
(a-2) For purposes of this section, "binary explosive"
means a product consisting of two chemical components or compounds
that separately are not explosive but combine to create an
explosive, as defined by Section 541.401, Transportation Code.
(b-1) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection
(a)(12) that the actor detonated a binary explosive as permitted or
otherwise authorized by the federal government or by the state or a
political subdivision of the state.
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 when 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, 2017.