87R2763 MEW-D
By: Price H.B. No. 1265
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to creating the criminal offense of obstructing or
interfering with a first responder or an emergency vehicle.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 42, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Section 42.063 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.063. OBSTRUCTING OR INTERFERING WITH FIRST
RESPONDER OR EMERGENCY VEHICLE. (a) In this section:
(1) "Authorized emergency vehicle" has the meaning
assigned by Section 541.201, Transportation Code.
(2) "First responder" has the meaning assigned by
Section 421.095, Government Code.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person recklessly
obstructs or interferes with:
(1) a first responder's ability to render aid at the
scene of an emergency to a person who is suffering serious bodily
injury; or
(2) the passage of an authorized emergency vehicle
that is operating the vehicle's siren or emergency lighting system
to or from the scene of an emergency where a person is suffering
serious bodily injury.
(c) An offense under this section is a state jail felony,
except that the offense is a third degree felony if it is shown on
the trial of the offense that a person suffers death as a result of
the offense.
(d) For purposes of Subsection (b)(1), the actor is presumed
to have known a person is a first responder if the person was
wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person's
employment or duties as a first responder.
(e) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the
actor may be prosecuted under either section or both sections.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.