H.B. No. 2624
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of certain criminal offenses involving
fraud.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 13, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 13.291 to read as follows:
Art. 13.291. CREDIT CARD OR DEBIT CARD ABUSE. An offense
under Section 32.31, Penal Code, may be prosecuted in any county in
which the offense was committed or in the county of residence for
any person whose credit card or debit card was unlawfully possessed
or used by the defendant.
SECTION 2. Article 38.19, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 38.19. INTENT TO DEFRAUD: CERTAIN OFFENSES [IN
FORGERY]. (a) This article applies to the trial of an offense under
any of the following sections of the Penal Code:
(1) Section 32.21 (Forgery);
(2) Section 32.31 (Credit Card or Debit Card Abuse);
or
(3) Section 32.51 (Fraudulent Use or Possession of
Identifying Information).
(b) In the trial [trials] of an offense to which this
article applies [forgery], the attorney representing the state is
not required to prove [it need not be proved] that the defendant
committed the act with intent to defraud any particular person. It
is [shall be] sufficient to prove that the offense [forgery] was, in
its nature, calculated to injure or defraud any of the
sovereignties, bodies corporate or politic, officers or persons,
named in the definition of the offense [forgery] in the Penal Code.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a criminal proceeding that commences on or after the effective
date of this Act. A criminal proceeding that commenced before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2624 was passed by the House on April
25, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 135, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2624 was passed by the Senate on May
15, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor