Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB719 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	S.B. No. 719
	1	+	86R25903 AJZ-D
	2	+	By: Fallon, et al. S.B. No. 719
	3	+	(Frank)
	4	+	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 719: No.
2	5
3	6
	7	+	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
4	8		AN ACT
5	9		relating to increasing the punishment for certain conduct
6	10		constituting the offense of murder and providing for the
7	11		prosecution of that conduct as capital murder.
8	12		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	13		SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as Lauren's Law.
10	14		SECTION 2. Section 19.03(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
11	15		as follows:
12	16		(a) A person commits an offense if the person commits murder
13	17		as defined under Section 19.02(b)(1) and:
14	18		(1) the person murders a peace officer or fireman who
15	19		is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the
16	20		person knows is a peace officer or fireman;
17	21		(2) the person intentionally commits the murder in the
18	22		course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary,
19	23		robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or
20	24		retaliation, or terroristic threat under Section 22.07(a)(1), (3),
21	25		(4), (5), or (6);
22	26		(3) the person commits the murder for remuneration or
23	27		the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder
24	28		for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;
25	29		(4) the person commits the murder while escaping or
26	30		attempting to escape from a penal institution;
27	31		(5) the person, while incarcerated in a penal
28	32		institution, murders another:
29	33		(A) who is employed in the operation of the penal
30	34		institution; or
31	35		(B) with the intent to establish, maintain, or
32	36		participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination;
33	37		(6) the person:
34	38		(A) while incarcerated for an offense under this
35	39		section or Section 19.02, murders another; or
36	40		(B) while serving a sentence of life imprisonment
37	41		or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section 20.04, 22.021, or
38	42		29.03, murders another;
39	43		(7) the person murders more than one person:
40	44		(A) during the same criminal transaction; or
41	45		(B) during different criminal transactions but
42	46		the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of
43	47		conduct;
44	48		(8) the person murders an individual under 10 years of
45	49		age; [or]
46	50		(9) the person murders an individual 10 years of age or
47	51		older but younger than 15 years of age; or
48	52		(10) the person murders another person in retaliation
49	53		for or on account of the service or status of the other person as a
50	54		judge or justice of the supreme court, the court of criminal
51	55		appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, a criminal district
52	56		court, a constitutional county court, a statutory county court, a
53	57		justice court, or a municipal court.
54	58		SECTION 3. Section 1, Article 37.071, Code of Criminal
55	59		Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
56	60		Sec. 1. (a) If a defendant is found guilty in a capital
57	61		felony case in which the state does not seek the death penalty, the
58	62		judge shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment or to life
59	63		imprisonment without parole as required by Section 12.31, Penal
60	64		Code.
61	65		(b) A defendant who is found guilty of an offense under
62	66		Section 19.03(a)(9), Penal Code, may not be sentenced to death, and
63	67		the state may not seek the death penalty in any case based solely on
64	68		an offense under that subdivision.
65	69		SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
66	70		to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
67	71		An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
68	72		governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
69	73		and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
70	74		purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
71	75		effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
72	76		before that date.
73	77		SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
74		-	______________________________ ______________________________
75		-	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
76		-	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 719 passed the Senate on
77		-	April 16, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
78		-	the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 23, 2019, by the
79		-	following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
80		-	______________________________
81		-	Secretary of the Senate
82		-	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 719 passed the House, with
83		-	amendment, on May 21, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 132,
84		-	Nays 8, two present not voting.
85		-	______________________________
86		-	Chief Clerk of the House
87		-	Approved:
88		-	______________________________
89		-	Date
90		-	______________________________
91		-	Governor