By: Huffman, Garcia, Zaffirini S.B. No. 900
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to penalties for certain family violence offenses and for
assultive offenses against certain persons; imposing court costs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Penal Code, is amended
by adding Section 12.475 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.475. PENALTY FOR REPEAT FAMILY VIOLENCE OFFENDERS.
(a) This section applies only to an offense that is:
(1) a Class A misdemeanor or any higher category of
offense; and
(2) committed under:
(A) Title 5, if an affirmative finding under
Article 42.013, Code of Criminal Procedure, is made in the trial of
the offense; or
(B) Section 25.11.
(b) An offense described by Subsection (a) is a felony of
the second degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
actor has been previously convicted two or more times of any offense
described by that subsection. This subsection does not apply to an
offense that is a felony of the first degree or a capital felony.
(c) For the purposes of this section, a defendant has been
previously convicted of an offense described by Subsection (a) if
the defendant 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 defendant was subsequently discharged from
community supervision.
(d) A previous conviction for an offense described by
Subsection (a) may be used for purposes of enhancement under this
section or enhancement under another provision of this subchapter,
but not under both this section and the other provision of this
subchapter.
(e) If the punishment scheme for an offense described by
Subsection (a) contains a specific enhancement provision
increasing punishment to a felony of the first degree for a
defendant who has previously been convicted of the offense, the
specific enhancement provision controls over this section.
SECTION 2. Section 22.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (b-2) to read as follows:
(b-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), unless an exception
is otherwise provided by that subsection, an offense under
Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum term of
confinement of 30 days if:
(1) the offense is committed 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;
(2) the offense is committed in the physical presence
or within the hearing of a person who is younger than 15 years of
age; and
(3) at the time of the offense, the person has
knowledge or reason to know that the person who is younger than 15
years of age is present and may see or hear the offense.
SECTION 3. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Section 22.042 to read as follows:
Sec. 22.042. CONTINUOUS INJURY TO A CHILD, ELDERLY
INDIVIDUAL, OR DISABLED INDIVIDUAL. (a) A person commits an
offense if, during a period that is 30 or more days but less than
five years in duration, the person engages two or more times in
conduct that constitutes an offense under Section 22.04 against one
or more victims.
(b) If a jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are
not required to agree unanimously on which specific conduct engaged
in by the defendant constituted an offense under Section 22.04 or on
which exact date the defendant engaged in that conduct. The jury
must agree unanimously that the defendant, during a period that is
30 or more days but less than five years in duration, engaged in
conduct that constituted an offense under Section 22.04.
(c) If the victim of an offense under Subsection (a) is the
same victim as a victim of an offense under Section 22.04, a
defendant may not be convicted of the offense under Section 22.04 in
the same criminal action as the offense under Subsection (a),
unless the offense under Section 22.04:
(1) is charged in the alternative;
(2) occurred outside the period in which the offense
alleged under Subsection (a) was committed; or
(3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser
included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (a).
(d) A defendant may not be charged with more than one count
under Subsection (a) if all of the conduct that constitutes an
offense under Section 22.04 is alleged to have been committed
against the same victim.
(e) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
degree.
SECTION 4. Article 42A.504, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:
(e) If a defendant is convicted of and placed on community
supervision for, or placed on deferred adjudication community
supervision for, an offense punished under Section 12.475, Penal
Code, the judge shall require as a condition of community
supervision that the defendant submit to a term of confinement of
not less than 90 days.
(f) If a defendant is convicted of and placed on community
supervision for, or placed on deferred adjudication community
supervision for, an offense under Section 22.01, Penal Code, and
punished under Subsection (b-2) of that section, the judge shall
require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant
submit to not less than five days of continuous confinement in
county jail.
SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 102, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 102.0188 to read as
follows:
Art. 102.0188. ADDITIONAL COSTS ATTENDANT TO CERTAIN FAMILY
VIOLENCE CONVICTIONS. (a) A defendant shall pay $500 on
conviction of an offense punished under Section 12.475, Penal Code.
(b) Costs imposed under this article are imposed without
regard to whether the defendant is placed on community supervision
after being convicted of the offense or is placed on deferred
adjudication community supervision for the offense.
(c) The clerks of the respective courts shall collect the
costs and pay them to the county treasurer, or to any other official
who discharges the duties commonly delegated to the county
treasurer, for deposit in a fund to be known as the family violence
prevention fund. A fund designated by this subsection may be used
only to fund family violence prevention programs, battering
intervention and prevention programs, family violence centers, and
other resources for victims of family violence in the county where
the court is located.
(d) The county family violence prevention fund shall be
administered by or under the direction of the commissioners court.
SECTION 6. Subchapter B, Chapter 102, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 102.0216 to read as follows:
Sec. 102.0216. ADDITIONAL COURT COSTS: CODE OF CRIMINAL
PROCEDURE. A defendant convicted of an offense punished under
Section 12.475, Penal Code, shall pay a cost on conviction, in
addition to all other costs, to fund resources for victims of family
violence (Art. 102.0188, Code of Criminal Procedure) . . . $500.
SECTION 7. 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 8. This Act takes effect only if a specific
appropriation for the implementation of the Act is provided in a
general appropriations act of the 85th Legislature.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.