Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3498 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R13449 CJD-D
2	2	By: Lujan H.B. No. 3498
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the designation of fentanyl poisoning for purposes of
8	8	the death certificate and to the manufacture or delivery of a
9	9	controlled substance or marihuana causing death or serious bodily
10	10	injury; creating a criminal offense; increasing a criminal penalty.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 193.005, Health and Safety Code, is
13	13	amended by adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
14	14	(e-1) If a toxicology examination reveals a detectable
15	15	amount of a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group 1-B in the
16	16	body of the decedent, the medical certification on the death
17	17	certificate must include the presence of the substance and the term
18	18	"Fentanyl Poisoning." This subsection does not apply if the
19	19	decedent at the time of death had a valid prescription for the
20	20	controlled substance.
21	21	SECTION 2. Section 481.122(c), Health and Safety Code, is
22	22	amended to read as follows:
23	23	(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
24	24	degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first degree if
25	25	it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person to whom the
26	26	actor delivered the controlled substance or marihuana died or
27	27	suffered serious bodily injury as a result of injecting, ingesting,
28	28	inhaling, or introducing into the person's body any amount of the
29	29	controlled substance or marihuana manufactured or delivered by the
30	30	actor, regardless of whether the controlled substance or marihuana
31	31	was used by itself or with another substance, including a drug,
32	32	adulterant, or dilutant.
33	33	SECTION 3. Section 481.141, Health and Safety Code, is
34	34	amended to read as follows:
35	35	Sec. 481.141. OFFENSE: MANUFACTURE OR DELIVERY OF
36	36	CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE CAUSING DEATH OR SERIOUS BODILY INJURY. (a) A
37	37	person commits an offense if the person knowingly manufactures or
38	38	delivers a controlled substance in violation of this chapter and
39	39	[If at the guilt or innocence phase of the trial of an offense
40	40	described by Subsection (b), the judge or jury, whichever is the
41	41	trier of fact, determines beyond a reasonable doubt that] a person
42	42	dies [died] or suffers [suffered] serious bodily injury as a result
43	43	of injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or introducing into the person's
44	44	body any amount of the controlled substance manufactured or
45	45	delivered by the actor [defendant], regardless of whether the
46	46	controlled substance was used by itself or with another substance,
47	47	including a drug, adulterant, or dilutant[, the punishment for the
48	48	offense is increased by one degree].
49	49	(b) An offense under this section is:
50	50	(1) [This section applies to an offense otherwise
51	51	punishable as] a [state jail felony,] felony of the third degree if
52	52	the commission of the offense resulted in serious bodily injury to a
53	53	person; or
54	54	(2) a [, or] felony of the second degree if the
55	55	commission of the offense resulted in the death of a person [under
56	56	Section 481.112, 481.1121, 481.1123, 481.113, 481.114, or
57	57	481.122].
58	58	(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that
59	59	the actor's conduct in manufacturing or delivering the controlled
60	60	substance was authorized under this chapter or other state or
61	61	federal law.
62	62	(d) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
63	63	also constitutes an offense under another section of this chapter
64	64	or the Penal Code, the actor may be prosecuted under either section
65	65	or both sections.
66	66	(e) Notwithstanding Article 42.08, Code of Criminal
67	67	Procedure, if [punishment for] a defendant is convicted of an
68	68	offense [increased] under this section, the court may not order the
69	69	sentence for the offense to run concurrently with any other
70	70	sentence the court imposes on the defendant.
71	71	SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
72	72	193.005, Health and Safety Code, applies only to a death that occurs
73	73	on or after the effective date of this Act, or a death that occurs
74	74	before that date but is discovered on or after the effective date of
75	75	this Act.
76	76	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter
77	77	481, Health and Safety Code, apply only to an offense committed on
78	78	or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed
79	79	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
80	80	effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is
81	81	continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section,
82	82	an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if
83	83	any element of the offense occurred before that date.
84	84	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.