86R6328 JCG-F
By: Anderson H.B. No. 2522
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of the criminal offense of theft of
service.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 31.04, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits theft of service if, with intent to
avoid payment for service that the actor knows is provided only for
compensation:
(1) the actor intentionally or knowingly secures
performance of the service by deception, threat, or false token;
(2) having control over the disposition of services of
another to which the actor is not entitled, the actor intentionally
or knowingly diverts the other's services to the actor's own benefit
or to the benefit of another not entitled to the services;
(3) having control of personal property under a
written rental agreement containing the notice and the actor's
acknowledgement of that notice as required by Subsection (b-1), the
actor holds the property beyond the expiration of the rental period
without the effective consent of the owner of the property, thereby
depriving the owner of the property of its use in further rentals;
or
(4) the actor intentionally or knowingly secures the
performance of the service by agreeing to provide compensation and,
after the service is rendered, fails to make full payment after
receiving notice demanding payment.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following are prima
facie evidence of the actor's intent to avoid payment [is presumed
if]:
(1) the actor absconded without paying for the service
or expressly refused to pay for the service in circumstances where
payment is ordinarily made immediately upon rendering of the
service, as in hotels, campgrounds, recreational vehicle parks,
restaurants, and comparable establishments;
(2) the actor failed to make payment under a service
agreement within 10 days after receiving notice demanding payment;
(3) the actor returns property held under a rental
agreement after the expiration of the rental agreement and fails to
pay the applicable rental charge for the property within 10 days
after the date on which the actor received notice demanding
payment; or
(4) the actor failed to return the property held under
a rental agreement:
(A) within five days after receiving notice
demanding return, if the property is valued at less than $2,500; or
(B) within three days after receiving notice
demanding return, if the property is valued at $2,500 or more.
(b-1) For purposes of Subsection (a)(3):
(1) the written rental agreement or an addendum to the
agreement must contain a notice in substantially the following
form:
"NOTICE
Failure to return rental property on or before the date the rental
period expires and failure to pay all amounts due, including costs
for damage to the rental property, is prima facie evidence of an
intent to avoid payment under Section 31.04 of the Texas Penal Code
(Theft of Service)."; and
(2) the notice described by Subdivision (1) must
contain the signature or mark of the actor acknowledging the
notice.
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.