By: Leach (Senate Sponsor - Paxton) H.B. No. 1343
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2019;
April 29, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on
Criminal Justice; May 15, 2019, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 15, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to persons who may be prosecuted for the criminal offense
of improper contact with a victim.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 38.111(a), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person, while
confined in a correctional facility after being charged with or
convicted of an offense listed in Article 62.001(5), Code of
Criminal Procedure, contacts by letter, telephone, or any other
means, either directly or through a third party, a victim of the
offense or a member of the victim's family, if [:
[(1) the victim was younger than 17 years of age at the
time of the commission of the offense for which the person is
confined; and
[(2)] the director of the correctional facility has
not, before the person makes contact with the victim:
(1) [(A)] received written and dated consent to the
contact from:
(A) the victim, if the victim was 17 years of age
or older at the time of the commission of the offense for which the
person is confined; or
(B) if the victim was younger than 17 years of age
at the time of the commission of the offense for which the person is
confined:
(i) a parent of the victim;
(ii) a legal guardian of the victim;
(iii) the victim, if the victim is 17 years
of age or older at the time of giving the consent; or
(iv) a member of the victim's family who is
17 years of age or older; and
(2) [(B)] provided the person with a copy of the
consent.
SECTION 2. 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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