Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3017 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Wu H.B. No. 3017
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to criminal liability for reporting false information to
7	7	draw an emergency response; creating an offense.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding
10	10	Section 22.13 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 22.14 SWATTING. (a) A person commits an offense if
12	12	the person reports a crime or an emergency or causes any report of a
13	13	crime or an emergency to be made to a law enforcement officer, law
14	14	enforcement agency, 9-1-1 service, official or volunteer agency, or
15	15	any other governmental employee or contractor who is authorized to
16	16	receive reports of a crime or emergency and:
17	17	(1) the person knows that the report is false;
18	18	(2) the report is reasonably likely to cause an
19	19	emergency response from a law enforcement agency or other emergency
20	20	responder; and,
21	21	(3) the person makes the report or causes the report to
22	22	be made with reckless disregard about whether the emergency
23	23	response by a law enforcement agency or other emergency responder
24	24	may directly result in bodily harm to any individual.
25	25	(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor,
26	26	except that:
27	27	(1) the offense is a State Jail Felony if it is shown
28	28	on the trial of the offense that the defendant has been previously
29	29	convicted on two or more occasions of an offense under this section;
30	30	or
31	31	(2) the offense is a felony of the third degree if the
32	32	false report results in an emergency response to a reported crime
33	33	and a person is killed or suffers serious bodily injury as a
34	34	proximate result of lawful conduct arising out of that response.
35	35	(c) A court may order a defendant convicted of an offense
36	36	under this section to make restitution to a public agency for the
37	37	reasonable costs of the emergency response by that public agency
38	38	resulting from the false report.
39	39	(d) If in the trial of an offense under this section, an
40	40	affirmative finding is made that the offense was committed because
41	41	of bias or prejudice, under Article 42.014, Code of Criminal
42	42	Procedure, the punishment for the offense is increased as provided
43	43	under Section 12.47.
44	44	(e) It is not a defense to prosecution under this section
45	45	that no physical harm occurred to any person as a result of the
46	46	false report, or that any harm that occurred was to physical
47	47	property rather than injury to a person.
48	48	(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed in any manner
49	49	to:
50	50	(1) conflict with 47 U.S.C. § 230 of the Communication
51	51	Decency Act; or,
52	52	(2) conflict with 42 U.S.C. § 1983 of the Civil Rights
53	53	Act.
54	54	(g) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
55	55	also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the
56	56	actor may be prosecuted under either section or both sections.
57	57	SECTION 2. Chapter 13, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
58	58	amended by adding Article 13.40 to read as follows:
59	59	Art. 13.40. SWATTING. The offense of swatting may be
60	60	prosecuted in any county in which:
61	61	(1) the defendant resides;
62	62	(2) the false report was communicated; or
63	63	(3) a law enforcement agency responded to the false
64	64	report.
65	65	SECTION 3. Section 51.03(b), Family Code, is amended by to
66	66	read as follows:
67	67	(b) Conduct indicating a need for supervision is:
68	68	(1) subject to Subsection (f), conduct, other than a
69	69	traffic offense, that violates:
70	70	(A) the penal laws of this state of the grade of
71	71	misdemeanor that are punishable by fine only; or
72	72	(B) the penal ordinances of any political
73	73	subdivision of this state;
74	74	(2) the voluntary absence of a child from the child's
75	75	home without the consent of the child's parent or guardian for a
76	76	substantial length of time or without intent to return;
77	77	(3) conduct prohibited by city ordinance or by state
78	78	law involving the inhalation of the fumes or vapors of paint and
79	79	other protective coatings or glue and other adhesives and the
80	80	volatile chemicals itemized in Section 485.001, Health and Safety
81	81	Code;
82	82	(4) an act that violates a school district's
83	83	previously communicated written standards of student conduct for
84	84	which the child has been expelled under Section 37.007(c),
85	85	Education Code;
86	86	(5) notwithstanding Subsection (a)(1), conduct
87	87	described by Section 43.02(a) or (b), Penal Code; [or]
88	88	(6) notwithstanding Subsection (a)(1), conduct that
89	89	violates Section 43.261, Penal Code; or
90	90	(7) notwithstanding Subsection (a)(1), conduct that
91	91	violates Section 22.14, Penal Code, if the child has not been
92	92	previously adjudicated for conduct in violation of that section.
93	93	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.