Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1316 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

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1	1	88R6829 JRR-F
2	2	By: Allison H.B. No. 1316
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain criminal
8	8	offenses involving the smuggling of persons or the operation of a
9	9	stash house; increasing criminal penalties.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Sections 20.05(a), (b), and (c), Penal Code, are
12	12	amended to read as follows:
13	13	(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly:
14	14	(1) uses a motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, or
15	15	other means of conveyance to transport an individual with the
16	16	intent to:
17	17	(A) conceal the individual from a peace officer
18	18	or special investigator; or
19	19	(B) flee from a person the actor knows is a peace
20	20	officer or special investigator attempting to lawfully arrest or
21	21	detain the actor;
22	22	(2) encourages or induces a person to enter or remain
23	23	in this country in violation of federal law by concealing,
24	24	harboring, or shielding that person from detection; or
25	25	(3) assists, guides, or directs two or more
26	26	individuals to enter or remain:
27	27	(A) in this country in violation of federal law;
28	28	or
29	29	(B) on agricultural land without the effective
30	30	consent of the owner.
31	31	(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
32	32	[third] degree[, except that the offense is:
33	33	[(1) a felony of the second degree if:
34	34	[(A) the actor commits the offense in a manner
35	35	that creates a substantial likelihood that the smuggled individual
36	36	will suffer serious bodily injury or death;
37	37	[(B) the smuggled individual is a child younger
38	38	than 18 years of age at the time of the offense;
39	39	[(C) the offense was committed with the intent to
40	40	obtain a pecuniary benefit;
41	41	[(D) during the commission of the offense the
42	42	actor, another party to the offense, or an individual assisted,
43	43	guided, or directed by the actor knowingly possessed a firearm; or
44	44	[(E) the actor commits the offense under
45	45	Subsection (a)(1)(B); or
46	46	[(2) a felony of the first degree if:
47	47	[(A) it is shown on the trial of the offense that,
48	48	as a direct result of the commission of the offense, the smuggled
49	49	individual became a victim of sexual assault, as defined by Section
50	50	22.011, or aggravated sexual assault, as defined by Section 22.021;
51	51	or
52	52	[(B) the smuggled individual suffered serious
53	53	bodily injury or death].
54	54	(c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution of an
55	55	offense under this section[, other than an offense punishable under
56	56	Subsection (b)(1)(A) or (b)(2),] that the actor is related to the
57	57	smuggled individual within the second degree of consanguinity or,
58	58	at the time of the offense, within the second degree of affinity.
59	59	The affirmative defense provided by this subsection is not
60	60	available if:
61	61	(1) as a direct result of the commission of the
62	62	offense, the smuggled individual became a victim of sexual assault,
63	63	as defined by Section 22.011, or aggravated sexual assault, as
64	64	defined by Section 22.021;
65	65	(2) the smuggled individual suffered serious bodily
66	66	injury or death; or
67	67	(3) the actor committed the offense in a manner that
68	68	created a substantial likelihood that the smuggled individual would
69	69	suffer serious bodily injury or death.
70	70	SECTION 2. Sections 20.06(e) and (f), Penal Code, are
71	71	amended to read as follows:
72	72	(e) Except as provided by Subsections (f) and (g), an
73	73	offense under this section is a felony of the first [second] degree
74	74	punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal
75	75	Justice for life or for any term of not more than 99 years or less
76	76	than 15 years.
77	77	(f) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
78	78	degree, punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of
79	79	Criminal Justice for life or for any term of not more than 99 years
80	80	or less than 20 years, if:
81	81	(1) the conduct constituting an offense under Section
82	82	20.05 is conducted in a manner that creates a substantial
83	83	likelihood that the smuggled individual will suffer serious bodily
84	84	injury or death; or
85	85	(2) the smuggled individual is a child younger than 18
86	86	years of age at the time of the offense.
87	87	SECTION 3. Section 20.07(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
88	88	as follows:
89	89	(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
90	90	degree [Class A misdemeanor].
91	91	SECTION 4. Sections 71.02(a) and (b), Penal Code, are
92	92	amended to read as follows:
93	93	(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to
94	94	establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the
95	95	profits of a combination or as a member of a criminal street gang,
96	96	the person commits or conspires to commit one or more of the
97	97	following:
98	98	(1) murder, capital murder, arson, aggravated
99	99	robbery, robbery, burglary, theft, aggravated kidnapping,
100	100	kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual
101	101	assault, continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled
102	102	individual, solicitation of a minor, forgery, deadly conduct,
103	103	assault punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, burglary of a motor
104	104	vehicle, or unauthorized use of a motor vehicle;
105	105	(2) any gambling offense punishable as a Class A
106	106	misdemeanor;
107	107	(3) promotion of prostitution, aggravated promotion
108	108	of prostitution, or compelling prostitution;
109	109	(4) unlawful manufacture, transportation, repair, or
110	110	sale of firearms or prohibited weapons;
111	111	(5) unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation, or
112	112	distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug, or
113	113	unlawful possession of a controlled substance or dangerous drug
114	114	through forgery, fraud, misrepresentation, or deception;
115	115	(5-a) causing the unlawful delivery, dispensation, or
116	116	distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug in
117	117	violation of Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code;
118	118	(6) any unlawful wholesale promotion or possession of
119	119	any obscene material or obscene device with the intent to wholesale
120	120	promote the same;
121	121	(7) any offense under Subchapter B, Chapter 43,
122	122	depicting or involving conduct by or directed toward a child
123	123	younger than 18 years of age;
124	124	(8) any felony offense under Chapter 32;
125	125	(9) any offense under Chapter 36;
126	126	(10) any offense under Chapter 34, 35, or 35A;
127	127	(11) any offense under Section 37.11(a);
128	128	(12) any offense under Chapter 20A;
129	129	(13) any offense under Section 37.10;
130	130	(14) any offense under Section 38.06, 38.07, 38.09, or
131	131	38.11;
132	132	(15) any offense under Section 42.10;
133	133	(16) any offense under Section 46.06(a)(1) or 46.14;
134	134	(17) any offense under Section 20.05, [or] 20.06, or
135	135	20.07;
136	136	(18) any offense under Section 16.02; or
137	137	(19) any offense classified as a felony under the Tax
138	138	Code.
139	139	(b) Except as provided in Subsections (c) and (d), an
140	140	offense under this section is one category higher than the most
141	141	serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that was committed, and if
142	142	the most serious offense is a Class A misdemeanor, the offense is a
143	143	state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony of the first
144	144	degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of
145	145	Criminal Justice for:
146	146	(1) life without parole, if the most serious offense
147	147	is an aggravated sexual assault and if at the time of that offense
148	148	the defendant is 18 years of age or older and:
149	149	(A) the victim of the offense is younger than six
150	150	years of age;
151	151	(B) the victim of the offense is younger than 14
152	152	years of age and the actor commits the offense in a manner described
153	153	by Section 22.021(a)(2)(A); or
154	154	(C) the victim of the offense is younger than 17
155	155	years of age and suffered serious bodily injury as a result of the
156	156	offense;
157	157	(2) life or for any term of not more than 99 years or
158	158	less than 30 years if the most serious offense is an offense under
159	159	Section 20.06 that is punishable under Subsection (g) of that
160	160	section; [or]
161	161	(3) life or for any term of not more than 99 years or
162	162	less than 25 years if the most serious offense is an offense under:
163	163	(A) Section 20.05 or 20.07; or
164	164	(B) Section 20.06, other than an offense that is
165	165	punishable under Subsection (g) of that section; or
166	166	(4) life or for any term of not more than 99 years or
167	167	less than 15 years if the most serious offense is an offense
168	168	punishable as a felony of the first degree, other than an offense
169	169	described by Subdivision (1), [or] (2), or (3).
170	170	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
171	171	an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
172	172	offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
173	173	by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
174	174	former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
175	175	this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
176	176	this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that
177	177	date.
178	178	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.