S.B. No. 1649
AN ACT
relating to increasing the punishment for certain conduct
constituting the offense of criminal trespass.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 30.05(b), Penal Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (12) to read as follows:
(12) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code.
SECTION 2. Section 30.05, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (d-1) and (d-2) to
read as follows:
(d) An offense under this section is:
(1) a Class B misdemeanor, except as provided by
Subdivisions (2) and (3);
(2) a Class C misdemeanor, except as provided by
Subdivision (3), if the offense is committed:
(A) on agricultural land and within 100 feet of
the boundary of the land; or
(B) on residential land and within 100 feet of a
protected freshwater area; and
(3) a Class A misdemeanor if:
(A) the offense is committed:
(i) in a habitation or a shelter center;
(ii) on a Superfund site; or
(iii) on or in a critical infrastructure
facility; [or]
(B) the offense is committed on or in property of
an institution of higher education and it is shown on the trial of
the offense that the person has previously been convicted of:
(i) an offense under this section relating
to entering or remaining on or in property of an institution of
higher education; or
(ii) an offense under Section 51.204(b)(1),
Education Code, relating to trespassing on the grounds of an
institution of higher education; or
(C) the person carries a deadly weapon during the
commission of the offense.
(d-1) For the purposes of Subsection (d)(3)(B), a person has
previously been convicted of an offense described by that paragraph
if the person was adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea
of guilty or nolo contendere in return for a grant of deferred
adjudication community supervision, regardless of whether the
sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether the sentence
was probated and the person was subsequently discharged from
deferred adjudication community supervision.
(d-2) At the punishment stage of a trial in which the
attorney representing the state seeks the increase in punishment
provided by Subsection (d)(3)(B), the defendant may raise the issue
as to whether, at the time of the instant offense or the previous
offense, the defendant was engaging in speech or expressive conduct
protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
or Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution. If the defendant
proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of the
evidence, the increase in punishment provided by Subsection
(d)(3)(B) does not apply.
SECTION 3. 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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1649 passed the Senate on
May 10, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 5; and that the
Senate concurred in House amendment on May 26, 2017, by the
following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 6.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1649 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 23, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 105,
Nays 40, three present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor