87R7890 MCF-D
By: Crockett H.B. No. 1503
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the punishment for the offense of criminal trespass.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 30.05(d), (d-1), (d-2), and (h), Penal
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) An offense under this section is:
(1) [a Class B misdemeanor, except as provided by
Subdivisions (2) and (3);
[(2)] a Class C misdemeanor, except as provided by
Subdivision (2) [(3), if the offense is committed:
[(A) on agricultural land and within 100 feet of
the boundary of the land; or
[(B) on residential land and within 100 feet of a
protected freshwater area]; and
(2) [(3)] a Class A misdemeanor if:
(A) the offense is committed:
(i) in a habitation or a shelter center;
(ii) on a Superfund site; or
(iii) on or in a critical infrastructure
facility;
(B) the offense is committed on or in property of
an institution of higher education and it is shown on the trial of
the offense that the person has previously been convicted of:
(i) an offense under this section relating
to entering or remaining on or in property of an institution of
higher education; or
(ii) an offense under Section 51.204(b)(1),
Education Code, relating to trespassing on the grounds of an
institution of higher education; or
(C) the person carries a deadly weapon during the
commission of the offense.
(d-1) For the purposes of Subsection (d)(2)(B) [(d)(3)(B)],
a person has previously been convicted of an offense described by
that paragraph if the person was adjudged guilty of the offense or
entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for a grant of
deferred adjudication community supervision, regardless of whether
the sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether the
sentence was probated and the person was subsequently discharged
from deferred adjudication community supervision.
(d-2) At the punishment stage of a trial in which the
attorney representing the state seeks the increase in punishment
provided by Subsection (d)(2)(B) [(d)(3)(B)], the defendant may
raise the issue as to whether, at the time of the instant offense or
the previous offense, the defendant was engaging in speech or
expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment to the United
States Constitution or Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution.
If the defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a
preponderance of the evidence, the increase in punishment provided
by Subsection (d)(2)(B) [(d)(3)(B)] does not apply.
(h) At the punishment stage of a trial in which the attorney
representing the state seeks the increase in punishment provided by
Subsection (d)(2)(A)(iii) [(d)(3)(A)(iii)], the defendant may
raise the issue as to whether the defendant entered or remained on
or in a critical infrastructure facility as part of a peaceful or
lawful assembly, including an attempt to exercise rights guaranteed
by state or federal labor laws. If the defendant proves the issue
in the affirmative by a preponderance of the evidence, the increase
in punishment provided by Subsection (d)(2)(A)(iii)
[(d)(3)(A)(iii)] does not apply.
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, 2021.