By: Hefner, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 914
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 11, 2023;
April 13, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on
Criminal Justice; May 3, 2023, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 3, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to temporary vehicle tags and the offense of tampering
with a governmental record.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 14.06(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) Subsection (c) applies only to a person charged with
committing an offense under:
(1) Section 481.121, Health and Safety Code, if the
offense is punishable under Subsection (b)(1) or (2) of that
section;
(1-a) Section 481.1161, Health and Safety Code, if the
offense is punishable under Subsection (b)(1) or (2) of that
section;
(2) Section 28.03, Penal Code, if the offense is
punishable under Subsection (b)(2) of that section;
(3) Section 28.08, Penal Code, if the offense is
punishable under Subsection (b)(2) or (3) of that section;
(4) Section 31.03, Penal Code, if the offense is
punishable under Subsection (e)(2)(A) of that section;
(5) Section 31.04, Penal Code, if the offense is
punishable under Subsection (e)(2) of that section;
(5-a) Section 37.10, Penal Code, if the offense is for
tampering with a temporary tag issued under Chapter 502 or 503,
Transportation Code;
(6) Section 38.114, Penal Code, if the offense is
punishable as a Class B misdemeanor; or
(7) Section 521.457, Transportation Code.
SECTION 2. Section 37.01(2), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(2) "Governmental record" means:
(A) anything belonging to, received by, or kept
by government for information, including a court record;
(B) anything required by law to be kept by others
for information of government;
(C) a license, certificate, permit, seal, title,
letter of patent, or similar document issued by government, by
another state, or by the United States;
(D) a standard proof of motor vehicle liability
insurance form described by Section 601.081, Transportation Code, a
certificate of an insurance company described by Section 601.083 of
that code, a document purporting to be such a form or certificate
that is not issued by an insurer authorized to write motor vehicle
liability insurance in this state, an electronic submission in a
form described by Section 502.046(i), Transportation Code, or an
evidence of financial responsibility described by Section 601.053
of that code;
(E) an official ballot or other election record;
[or]
(F) the written documentation a mobile food unit
is required to obtain under Section 437.0074, Health and Safety
Code; or
(G) a temporary tag issued under Chapter 502 or
503, Transportation Code.
SECTION 3. Section 37.10(c), Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (6) to read as
follows:
(1) Except as provided by Subdivisions (2), (3), (4),
[and] (5), and (6), and by Subsection (d), an offense under this
section is a Class A misdemeanor unless the actor's intent is to
defraud or harm another, in which event the offense is a state jail
felony.
(6) An offense under this section is a Class A
misdemeanor if the governmental record is a temporary tag issued
under Chapter 502 or 503, Transportation Code.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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