85R8206 KJE-F
By: Wilson H.B. No. 3454
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to increasing the punishment for certain offenses
committed against a federal law enforcement officer or emergency
services personnel.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1.07(a), Penal Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (22-a) to read as follows:
(22-a) "Emergency services personnel" includes
firefighters, emergency medical services personnel as defined by
Section 773.003, Health and Safety Code, emergency
room personnel, and other individuals who, in the course and scope
of employment or as a volunteer, provide services for the benefit of
the general public during emergency situations.
SECTION 2. Section 19.03(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person commits murder
as defined under Section 19.02(b)(1) and:
(1) the person murders a peace officer or federal law
enforcement officer [fireman] who is acting in the lawful discharge
of an official duty and who the person knows is a peace officer or
federal law enforcement officer [fireman];
(2) the person intentionally commits the murder in the
course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary,
robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or
retaliation, or terroristic threat under Section 22.07(a)(1), (3),
(4), (5), or (6);
(3) the person commits the murder for remuneration or
the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder
for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;
(4) the person commits the murder while escaping or
attempting to escape from a penal institution;
(5) the person, while incarcerated in a penal
institution, murders another:
(A) who is employed in the operation of the penal
institution; or
(B) with the intent to establish, maintain, or
participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination;
(6) the person:
(A) while incarcerated for an offense under this
section or Section 19.02, murders another; or
(B) while serving a sentence of life imprisonment
or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section 20.04, 22.021, or
29.03, murders another;
(7) the person murders more than one person:
(A) during the same criminal transaction; or
(B) during different criminal transactions but
the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of
conduct;
(8) the person murders an individual under 10 years of
age; [or]
(9) the person murders another person in retaliation
for or on account of the service or status of the other person as a
judge or justice of the supreme court, the court of criminal
appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, a criminal district
court, a constitutional county court, a statutory county court, a
justice court, or a municipal court; or
(10) the person murders an individual the person knows
is emergency services personnel while the individual is providing
emergency services.
SECTION 3. Section 20.02(c), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(c) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor,
except that the offense is:
(1) a state jail felony if the person restrained was a
child younger than 17 years of age; or
(2) a felony of the third degree if:
(A) the actor recklessly exposes the victim to a
substantial risk of serious bodily injury;
(B) the actor restrains an individual the actor
knows is a public servant or federal law enforcement officer while
the public servant or officer is lawfully discharging an official
duty or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of official
power or performance of an official duty as a public servant or
federal law enforcement officer;
(C) the actor restrains an individual the actor
knows is emergency services personnel while the individual is
providing emergency services; or
(D) [(C)] the actor while in custody restrains
any other person.
SECTION 4. Sections 22.01(b) and (d), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A
misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree
if the offense is committed against:
(1) a person the actor knows is a public servant or
federal law enforcement officer while the public servant or officer
is lawfully discharging an official duty, or in retaliation or on
account of an exercise of official power or performance of an
official duty as a public servant or federal law enforcement
officer;
(2) a person whose relationship to or association with
the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or
71.005, Family Code, if:
(A) it is shown on the trial of the offense that
the defendant has been previously convicted of an offense under
this chapter, Chapter 19, or Section 20.03, 20.04, 21.11, or 25.11
against a person whose relationship to or association with the
defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005,
Family Code; or
(B) the offense is committed by intentionally,
knowingly, or recklessly impeding the normal breathing or
circulation of the blood of the person by applying pressure to the
person's throat or neck or by blocking the person's nose or mouth;
(3) a person who contracts with government to perform
a service in a facility as defined by Section 1.07(a)(14), Penal
Code, or Section 51.02(13) or (14), Family Code, or an employee of
that person:
(A) while the person or employee is engaged in
performing a service within the scope of the contract, if the actor
knows the person or employee is authorized by government to provide
the service; or
(B) in retaliation for or on account of the
person's or employee's performance of a service within the scope of
the contract;
(4) a person the actor knows is a security officer
while the officer is performing a duty as a security officer; or
(5) a person the actor knows is emergency services
personnel while the person is providing emergency services.
(d) For purposes of Subsection (b), the actor is presumed to
have known the person assaulted was a public servant, a federal law
enforcement officer, a security officer, or emergency services
personnel if the person was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge
indicating the person's employment as a public servant or federal
law enforcement officer or status as a security officer or
emergency services personnel.
SECTION 5. Sections 22.02(b) and (c), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first degree if:
(1) the actor uses a deadly weapon during the
commission of the assault and causes serious bodily injury to a
person whose relationship to or association with the defendant is
described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code;
(2) regardless of whether the offense is committed
under Subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2), the offense is committed:
(A) by a public servant acting under color of the
servant's office or employment;
(B) against a person the actor knows is a public
servant or federal law enforcement officer while the public servant
or officer is lawfully discharging an official duty, or in
retaliation or on account of an exercise of official power or
performance of an official duty as a public servant or federal law
enforcement officer;
(C) in retaliation against or on account of the
service of another as a witness, prospective witness, informant, or
person who has reported the occurrence of a crime; [or]
(D) against a person the actor knows is a
security officer while the officer is performing a duty as a
security officer; or
(E) against a person the actor knows is emergency
services personnel while the person is providing emergency
services; or
(3) the actor is in a motor vehicle, as defined by
Section 501.002, Transportation Code, and:
(A) knowingly discharges a firearm at or in the
direction of a habitation, building, or vehicle;
(B) is reckless as to whether the habitation,
building, or vehicle is occupied; and
(C) in discharging the firearm, causes serious
bodily injury to any person.
(c) The actor is presumed to have known the person assaulted
was a public servant, a federal law enforcement officer, [or] a
security officer, or emergency services personnel if the person was
wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person's
employment as a public servant or federal law enforcement officer
or status as a security officer or emergency services personnel.
SECTION 6. Section 22.07(c), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(c) An offense under Subsection (a)(2) is a Class B
misdemeanor, except that the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the
offense:
(1) is committed against a member of the person's
family or household or otherwise constitutes family violence; or
(2) is committed against:
(A) a public servant;
(B) a person the actor knows is a federal law
enforcement officer while the officer is lawfully discharging an
official duty, or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of
official power or performance of an official duty as a federal law
enforcement officer; or
(C) a person the actor knows is emergency
services personnel while the person is providing emergency
services.
SECTION 7. Section 49.09(b-1), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b-1) An offense under Section 49.07 is a felony of the
second degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
person caused serious bodily injury to a peace officer, a federal
law enforcement officer [firefighter], or emergency [medical]
services personnel while in the actual discharge of an official
duty.
SECTION 8. Sections 22.01(e)(1) and 49.09(b-3), Penal Code,
are repealed.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.