| 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 the prosecution of the offense of practicing |
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| 8 | 8 | | veterinary medicine without a license; increasing a criminal |
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| 9 | 9 | | penalty. |
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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 801.504(b), Occupations Code, is amended |
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| 12 | 12 | | to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, |
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| 14 | 14 | | except that an offense under this section is a state jail felony if |
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| 15 | 15 | | it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (1) violated Section 801.251; and |
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| 17 | 17 | | (2) during the commission of the offense falsely |
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| 18 | 18 | | represented to another that the actor was a veterinarian or was |
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| 19 | 19 | | affiliated with a veterinarian's practice. |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 21 | 21 | | an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
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| 22 | 22 | | offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed |
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| 23 | 23 | | by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the |
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| 24 | 24 | | former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
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| 25 | 25 | | this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
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| 26 | 26 | | this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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| 27 | 27 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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