By: Huffman, Menéndez S.B. No. 1232
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the offense of bestiality.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.07(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person [he] knowingly
engages in any of the following acts in a public place or, if not in
a public place, the person [he] is reckless about whether another is
present who will be offended or alarmed by the person's [his]:
(1) act of sexual intercourse;
(2) act of deviate sexual intercourse; or
(3) act of sexual contact[; or
[(4) act involving contact between the person's mouth
or genitals and the anus or genitals of an animal or fowl].
SECTION 2. Chapter 21, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Section 21.09 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.09. BESTIALITY. (a) A person commits an offense
if the person knowingly:
(1) engages in an act involving contact between:
(A) the person's mouth, anus, or genitals and the
anus or genitals of an animal; or
(B) the person's anus or genitals and the mouth
of the animal;
(2) fondles or touches the anus or genitals of an
animal, including touching through clothing;
(3) causes an animal to contact the seminal fluid of
the person;
(4) inserts any part of a person's body or any object
into the anus or genitals of an animal;
(5) possesses, sells, transfers, purchases, or
otherwise obtains an animal with the intent that the animal be used
for conduct described by Subdivision (1), (2), (3), or (4);
(6) organizes, promotes, conducts, or participates as
an observer of conduct described by Subdivision (1), (2), (3), or
(4);
(7) causes a person to engage or aids a person in
engaging in conduct described by Subdivision (1), (2), (3), or (4);
(8) permits conduct described by Subdivision (1), (2),
(3), or (4) to occur on any premises under the person's control;
(9) engages in conduct described by Subdivision (1),
(2), (3), or (4) in the presence of a child younger than 18 years of
age; or
(10) advertises, offers, or accepts the offer of an
animal with the intent that the animal be used in this state for
conduct described by Subdivision (1), (2), (3), or (4).
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony,
unless the offense is committed under Subsection (a)(9) or results
in serious bodily injury or death of the animal, in which event the
offense is a felony of the third degree.
(c) It is an exception to the application of this section
that the conduct engaged in by the actor is a generally accepted and
otherwise lawful animal husbandry or veterinary practice.
SECTION 3. Article 42A.511, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 42A.511. COMMUNITY SUPERVISION FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES
INVOLVING ANIMALS. (a) If a judge grants community supervision to
a defendant convicted of an offense under Section 42.09, 42.091,
42.092, or 42.10, Penal Code, the judge may require the defendant to
attend a responsible pet owner course sponsored by a municipal
animal shelter, as defined by Section 823.001, Health and Safety
Code, that:
(1) receives federal, state, county, or municipal
funds; and
(2) serves the county in which the court is located.
(b) If a judge grants community supervision to a defendant
convicted of an offense under Section 21.09, Penal Code, the judge
may:
(1) require the defendant to relinquish custody of any
animals in the defendant's possession;
(2) prohibit the defendant from possessing or
exercising control over any animals or residing in a household
where animals are present; or
(3) require the defendant to participate in
psychological counseling or other appropriate treatment program
for a period to be determined by the court.
SECTION 4. Section 821.021(1), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(1) "Cruelly treated" includes tortured, seriously
overworked, unreasonably abandoned, unreasonably deprived of
necessary food, care, or shelter, cruelly confined, [or] caused to
fight with another animal, or subjected to conduct prohibited by
Section 21.09, Penal Code.
SECTION 5. Section 821.023, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (b) to
read as follows:
(a-1) A finding in a court of competent jurisdiction that a
person is guilty of an offense under Section 21.09, Penal Code, is
prima facie evidence at a hearing authorized by Section 821.022
that any animal in the person's possession has been cruelly
treated, regardless of whether the animal was subjected to conduct
prohibited by Section 21.09, Penal Code.
(b) A statement of an owner made at a hearing provided for
under this subchapter is not admissible in a trial of the owner for
an offense under Section 21.09, 42.09, or 42.092, Penal Code.
SECTION 6. 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 occurred
before that date.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.