| 1 | 1 | | 88R7784 MZM-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Campos H.B. No. 1421 |
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| 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 increasing the criminal penalty for a peace officer who |
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| 8 | 8 | | fails to report the suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an |
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| 9 | 9 | | elderly person or a person with a disability. |
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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 48.052(a), Human Resources Code, is |
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| 12 | 12 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (a) A person commits an offense if the person has cause to |
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| 14 | 14 | | believe that an elderly person or person with a disability has been |
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| 15 | 15 | | abused, neglected, or exploited or is in the state of abuse, |
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| 16 | 16 | | neglect, or exploitation and knowingly fails to report in |
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| 17 | 17 | | accordance with this chapter. An offense under this subsection is a |
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| 18 | 18 | | Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony |
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| 19 | 19 | | if it is shown on the trial of the offense that: |
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| 20 | 20 | | (1) the abused, neglected, or exploited person is a |
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| 21 | 21 | | person with an intellectual disability who resided in a state |
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| 22 | 22 | | supported living center, the ICF-IID component of the Rio Grande |
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| 23 | 23 | | State Center, or a facility licensed under Chapter 252, Health and |
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| 24 | 24 | | Safety Code, and the actor knew that the person had suffered serious |
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| 25 | 25 | | bodily injury as a result of the abuse, neglect, or exploitation; or |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2) the actor is a peace officer who encountered the |
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| 27 | 27 | | abused, neglected, or exploited person in the course of discharging |
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| 28 | 28 | | duties as a peace officer. |
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| 29 | 29 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 30 | 30 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 31 | 31 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 32 | 32 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 33 | 33 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 34 | 34 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 35 | 35 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 36 | 36 | | before that date. |
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| 37 | 37 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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