| 1 | 1 | | 87R11119 JSC-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Reynolds H.B. No. 2358 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain false |
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| 8 | 8 | | reports that are made to certain law enforcement and corrections |
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| 9 | 9 | | entities. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 37.08, Penal Code, is amended by |
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| 12 | 12 | | amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as |
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| 13 | 13 | | follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (c) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (d), an [An] |
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| 15 | 15 | | offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor. |
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| 16 | 16 | | (d) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this |
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| 17 | 17 | | section that the false statement consisted of an allegation that |
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| 18 | 18 | | another person engaged in conduct violating a penal law of this |
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| 19 | 19 | | state, the offense is the greater of: |
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| 20 | 20 | | (1) the category of offense of the most serious |
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| 21 | 21 | | offense falsely reported; or |
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| 22 | 22 | | (2) a Class A misdemeanor. |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 24 | 24 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 25 | 25 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 26 | 26 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 27 | 27 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 28 | 28 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 29 | 29 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 30 | 30 | | before that date. |
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| 31 | 31 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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