By: Dominguez H.B. No. 4533
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to civil and criminal liability for the unlawful
disclosure of intimate visual material.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 98B.002(a), Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A defendant is liable, as provided by this chapter, to a
person depicted in intimate visual material for damages arising
from the disclosure of the material if:
(1) the defendant [discloses] disseminates the
intimate visual material without the effective consent of the
depicted person and with the intent to harm that person;
(2) it is rebuttal presumption that a person has
disseminated intimate visual material without effective consent if
the depicted person, within 48 hours of the discovery of the
dissemination, contacts law enforcement to complain of the
dissemination;
(3) at the time of the disclosure, the defendant knows
or has reason to believe that the intimate visual material was
obtained by the defendant or created under circumstances in which
the depicted person had a reasonable expectation that the material
would remain private;
(4) the disclosure of the intimate visual material
causes harm to the depicted person; and
(5) the disclosure of the intimate visual material
reveals the identity of the depicted person in any manner,
including through:
(A) any accompanying or subsequent information
or material related to the intimate visual material; or
(B) information or material provided by a third
party in response to the disclosure of the intimate visual
material.
SECTION 2. Section 21.16(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) A person commits an offense if:
(1) without the effective consent of the depicted
person and with the intent to harm that person, the person discloses
visual material depicting another person with the person's intimate
parts exposed or engaged in sexual conduct;
(2) intentionally or knowingly disseminates visual
material depicting another person with the person's intimate parts
exposed or engaged in sexual conduct;
(3) at the time of the disclosure, the person knows or
has reason to believe that the visual material was obtained by the
person or created under circumstances in which the depicted person
had a reasonable expectation that the visual material would remain
private;
(4) the disclosure of the visual material causes harm
to the depicted person; and
(5) the disclosure of the visual material reveals the
identity of the depicted person in any manner, including through:
(A) any accompanying or subsequent information
or material related to the visual material; or
(B) information or material provided by a third
party in response to the disclosure of the visual material; or
(C) It is a defense to prosecution that the
defendant had obtained the effective consent to disseminate the
intimate visual material of the depicted person.
SECTION 3. (a) Section 98B.002, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a cause of
action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A
cause of action that accrues before the effective date of this Act
is governed by the law applicable to the cause of action immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
(b) Section 21.16, Penal Code, as amended 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 subsection, an offense was committed
before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
was committed before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.