Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2499 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Springer H.B. No. 2499
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to prosecution and punishment for the offense of official
7	7	oppression by the intrusive touching of persons seeking access to
8	8	public buildings and transportation; providing penalties.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 39.03, Penal Code, is amended by
11	11	amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (c-1),
12	12	(c-2), and (c-3) to read as follows:
13	13	(a) A person who is a public servant [acting under color of
14	14	his office or employment] commits an offense if the person:
15	15	(1) while acting under color of the person's office or
16	16	employment [he]:
17	17	(A) [(1)] intentionally subjects another person
18	18	to mistreatment or to arrest, detention, search, seizure,
19	19	dispossession, assessment, or lien that the actor [he] knows is
20	20	unlawful;
21	21	(B) [(2)] intentionally denies or impedes
22	22	another person in the exercise or enjoyment of any right,
23	23	privilege, power, or immunity, knowing the actor's [his] conduct is
24	24	unlawful; or
25	25	(C) [(3)] intentionally subjects another person
26	26	to sexual harassment; or
27	27	(2) while acting under color of the person's office or
28	28	employment without probable cause to believe the other person
29	29	committed an offense:
30	30	(A) performs a search without effective consent
31	31	for the purpose of granting access to a publicly accessible
32	32	building or form of transportation; and
33	33	(B) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly:
34	34	(i) touches the anus, sexual organ,
35	35	buttocks, or breast of the other person, including touching
36	36	through clothing; or
37	37	(ii) causes physical contact with the other
38	38	person when the actor knows or should reasonably believe that the
39	39	other person will regard the contact as offensive or provocative.
40	40	(b) For purposes of this section, a person who is a public
41	41	servant acts under color of the person's [his] office or employment
42	42	if the person [he] acts or purports to act in an official capacity
43	43	or takes advantage of such actual or purported capacity.
44	44	(c-1) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), "public servant"
45	45	includes:
46	46	(1) an officer, employee, or agent of:
47	47	(A) the United States;
48	48	(B) a branch, department, or agency of the United
49	49	States; or
50	50	(C) another person acting under contract with a
51	51	branch, department, or agency of the United States for the purpose
52	52	of providing a security or law enforcement service; and
53	53	(2) any other person acting under color of federal
54	54	law.
55	55	(c-2) For a person described by Subsection (c-1)(1) or (2),
56	56	it is a defense to prosecution for an offense under Subsection
57	57	(a)(2) that the actor performed the search pursuant to and
58	58	consistent with an explicit and applicable grant of federal
59	59	statutory authority that is consistent with the United States
60	60	Constitution.
61	61	(c-3) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), and
62	62	notwithstanding Sections 1.07(a)(11) and (19), consent is
63	63	effective only if, immediately before any search:
64	64	(1) the actor verbally describes:
65	65	(A) the area of the other person to be searched;
66	66	and
67	67	(B) the method to be used in the search; and
68	68	(2) the actor receives express consent for the search
69	69	only from:
70	70	(A) the other person; or
71	71	(B) the parent or guardian of the other person.
72	72	SECTION 2. (a) This section applies only to a prosecution
73	73	of an offense under Section 39.03(a)(2), Penal Code, as added by
74	74	this Act, in which the defendant was, at the time of the alleged
75	75	offense, acting under the color of federal law.
76	76	(b) In a prosecution described by Subsection (a) of this
77	77	section, if the government of the United States, the defendant, or
78	78	the defendant's employer challenges the validity of Section
79	79	39.03(a)(2), Penal Code, as added by this Act, on grounds of
80	80	unconstitutionality, preemption, or sovereign immunity, the
81	81	attorney general of this state, with the consent of the appropriate
82	82	local county or district attorney, shall take any actions necessary
83	83	on behalf of the state to defend the validity of the statute. The
84	84	attorney general may make any legal arguments the attorney general
85	85	considers appropriate, including that this Act constitutes a valid
86	86	exercise of:
87	87	(1) the state's police powers;
88	88	(2) the liberty interests of the people that are
89	89	secured by the United States Constitution;
90	90	(3) the powers reserved to the states by the Tenth
91	91	Amendment to the United States Constitution; or
92	92	(4) the rights and protections secured by the Texas
93	93	Constitution.
94	94	SECTION 3. This Act shall be construed, as a matter of state
95	95	law, to be enforceable up to but no further than the maximum
96	96	possible extent consistent with federal constitutional
97	97	requirements, even if that construction is not readily apparent, as
98	98	such constructions are authorized only to the extent necessary to
99	99	save the statute from judicial invalidation.
100	100	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect on September 1, 2019