| 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 harassment using a temporary or disposable telephone |
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| 8 | 8 | | number; creating a criminal offense. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 42.07(a), Penal Code, is amended to read |
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| 11 | 11 | | as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to harass, |
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| 13 | 13 | | annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass another, the person: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) initiates communication and in the course of the |
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| 15 | 15 | | communication makes a comment, request, suggestion, or proposal |
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| 16 | 16 | | that is obscene; |
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| 17 | 17 | | (2) threatens, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm |
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| 18 | 18 | | the person receiving the threat, to inflict bodily injury on the |
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| 19 | 19 | | person or to commit a felony against the person, a member of the |
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| 20 | 20 | | person's family or household, or the person's property; |
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| 21 | 21 | | (3) conveys, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm |
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| 22 | 22 | | the person receiving the report, a false report, which is known by |
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| 23 | 23 | | the conveyor to be false, that another person has suffered death or |
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| 24 | 24 | | serious bodily injury; |
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| 25 | 25 | | (4) causes the telephone of another to ring repeatedly |
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| 26 | 26 | | or makes repeated telephone communications anonymously or in a |
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| 27 | 27 | | manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, |
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| 28 | 28 | | embarrass, or offend another; |
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| 29 | 29 | | (5) makes a telephone call and intentionally fails to |
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| 30 | 30 | | hang up or disengage the connection; |
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| 31 | 31 | | (6) knowingly permits a telephone under the person's |
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| 32 | 32 | | control to be used by another to commit an offense under this |
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| 33 | 33 | | section; [or] |
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| 34 | 34 | | (7) sends repeated electronic communications in a |
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| 35 | 35 | | manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, |
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| 36 | 36 | | embarrass, or offend another; or |
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| 37 | 37 | | (8) makes obscene, intimidating, or threatening |
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| 38 | 38 | | telephone calls or other electronic communications from a temporary |
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| 39 | 39 | | or disposable telephone number provided by an Internet application |
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| 40 | 40 | | or other technological means. |
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| 41 | 41 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 42 | 42 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 43 | 43 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 44 | 44 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 45 | 45 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 46 | 46 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 47 | 47 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 48 | 48 | | before that date. |
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| 49 | 49 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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