Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB395 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		By: Campbell S.B. No. 395
2		-	(In the Senate - Filed December 21, 2016; February 1, 2017,
3		-	read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
4		-	March 23, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6,
5		-	Nays 0; March 23, 2017, sent to printer.)
6		-	Click here to see the committee vote
7	2
8	3
9	4		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
10	5		AN ACT
11	6		relating to the prosecution of the offense of operation of unmanned
12	7		aircraft over correctional facility or critical infrastructure
13	8		facility.
14	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	10		SECTION 1. The heading to Section 423.0045, Government
16	11		Code, is amended to read as follows:
17	12		Sec. 423.0045. OFFENSE: OPERATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT
18	13		OVER CORRECTIONAL FACILITY OR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY.
19	14		SECTION 2. Section 423.0045(a), Government Code, is amended
20	15		by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (1-a) to read as
21	16		follows:
22	17		(1) "Correctional facility" means:
23	18		(A) a confinement facility operated by or under
24	19		contract with any division of the Texas Department of Criminal
25	20		Justice;
26	21		(B) a municipal or county jail; or
27	22		(C) a secure correctional facility or secure
28	23		detention facility, as defined by Section 51.02, Family Code.
29	24		(1-a) "Critical infrastructure facility" means:
30	25		(A) one of the following, if completely enclosed
31	26		by a fence or other physical barrier that is obviously designed to
32	27		exclude intruders, or if clearly marked with a sign or signs that
33	28		are posted on the property, are reasonably likely to come to the
34	29		attention of intruders, and indicate that entry is forbidden:
35	30		(i) a petroleum or alumina refinery;
36	31		(ii) an electrical power generating
37	32		facility, substation, switching station, or electrical control
38	33		center;
39	34		(iii) a chemical, polymer, or rubber
40	35		manufacturing facility;
41	36		(iv) a water intake structure, water
42	37		treatment facility, wastewater treatment plant, or pump station;
43	38		(v) a natural gas compressor station;
44	39		(vi) a liquid natural gas terminal or
45	40		storage facility;
46	41		(vii) a telecommunications central
47	42		switching office;
48	43		(viii) a port, railroad switching yard,
49	44		trucking terminal, or other freight transportation facility;
50	45		(ix) a gas processing plant, including a
51	46		plant used in the processing, treatment, or fractionation of
52	47		natural gas;
53	48		(x) a transmission facility used by a
54	49		federally licensed radio or television station;
55	50		(xi) a steelmaking facility that uses an
56	51		electric arc furnace to make steel; or
57	52		(xii) a dam that is classified as a high
58	53		hazard by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; or
59	54		(B) any portion of an aboveground oil, gas, or
60	55		chemical pipeline that is enclosed by a fence or other physical
61	56		barrier that is obviously designed to exclude intruders.
62	57		SECTION 3. Sections 423.0045(b) and (c), Government Code,
63	58		are amended to read as follows:
64	59		(b) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
65	60		or knowingly:
66	61		(1) operates an unmanned aircraft over a correctional
67	62		facility or critical infrastructure facility and the unmanned
68	63		aircraft is not higher than 400 feet above ground level;
69	64		(2) allows an unmanned aircraft to make contact with a
70	65		correctional facility or critical infrastructure facility,
71	66		including any person or object on the premises of or within the
72	67		facility; or
73	68		(3) allows an unmanned aircraft to come within a
74	69		distance of a correctional facility or critical infrastructure
75	70		facility that is close enough to interfere with the operations of or
76	71		cause a disturbance to the facility.
77	72		(c) This section does not apply to:
78	73		(1) conduct described by Subsection (b) that involves
79	74		a correctional facility or critical infrastructure facility and
80	75		[that] is committed by:
81	76		(A) [(1)] the federal government, the state, or a
82	77		governmental entity;
83	78		(B) [(2)] a person under contract with or
84	79		otherwise acting under the direction or on behalf of the federal
85	80		government, the state, or a governmental entity;
86	81		(C) [(3)] a law enforcement agency;
87	82		(D) [(4)] a person under contract with or
88	83		otherwise acting under the direction or on behalf of a law
89	84		enforcement agency; or
90	85		(E) an operator of an unmanned aircraft that is
91	86		being used for a commercial purpose, if the operator is authorized
92	87		by the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct operations over
93	88		that airspace; or
94	89		(2) conduct described by Subsection (b) that involves
95	90		a critical infrastructure facility and is committed by:
96	91		(A) [(5)] an owner or operator of the critical
97	92		infrastructure facility;
98	93		(B) [(6)] a person under contract with or
99	94		otherwise acting under the direction or on behalf of an owner or
100	95		operator of the critical infrastructure facility;
101	96		(C) [(7)] a person who has the prior written
102	97		consent of the owner or operator of the critical infrastructure
103	98		facility; or
104	99		(D) [(8)] the owner or occupant of the property
105	100		on which the critical infrastructure facility is located or a
106	101		person who has the prior written consent of the owner or occupant of
107	102		that property[; or
108	103		[(9) an operator of an unmanned aircraft that is being
109	104		used for a commercial purpose, if the operator is authorized by the
110	105		Federal Aviation Administration to conduct operations over that
111	106		airspace].
112	107		SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
113	108		to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
114	109		An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
115	110		governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
116	111		and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
117	112		purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
118	113		effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
119	114		before that date.
120	115		SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
121		-	* * * * *