Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1620 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R1193 JRR-F
2	2	By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 1620
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 committed in the course of or for the purpose of unlawfully
9	9	entering the United States, unlawfully bypassing certain law
10	10	enforcement checkpoints, or evading an arrest or detention;
11	11	increasing criminal penalties.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 20.05, Penal Code, is amended by adding
14	14	Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
15	15	(b-1) For purposes of Subsection (a)(1)(A), the actor is
16	16	presumed to have acted knowingly and with the intent to conceal the
17	17	individual being transported from a peace officer or special
18	18	investigator if in the course of committing the offense the actor
19	19	unlawfully bypassed a federal or state law enforcement checkpoint.
20	20	SECTION 2. Section 22.01(b-1), Penal Code, is amended to
21	21	read as follows:
22	22	(b-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), an offense under
23	23	Subsection (a)(1) is a felony of the third degree if:
24	24	(1) it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
25	25	actor committed the offense in the course of or for the purpose of
26	26	unlawfully entering the United States; or
27	27	(2) the offense is committed:
28	28	(A) [(1)] while the actor is committed to a civil
29	29	commitment facility; and
30	30	(B) [(2)] against:
31	31	(i) [(A)] an officer or employee of the
32	32	Texas Civil Commitment Office:
33	33	(a) [(i)] while the officer or
34	34	employee is lawfully discharging an official duty at a civil
35	35	commitment facility; or
36	36	(b) [(ii)] in retaliation for or on
37	37	account of an exercise of official power or performance of an
38	38	official duty by the officer or employee; or
39	39	(ii) [(B)] a person who contracts with the
40	40	state to perform a service in a civil commitment facility or an
41	41	employee of that person:
42	42	(a) [(i)] while the person or
43	43	employee is engaged in performing a service within the scope of the
44	44	contract, if the actor knows the person or employee is authorized by
45	45	the state to provide the service; or
46	46	(b) [(ii)] in retaliation for or on
47	47	account of the person's or employee's performance of a service
48	48	within the scope of the contract.
49	49	SECTION 3. Chapter 28, Penal Code, is amended by adding
50	50	Section 28.10 to read as follows:
51	51	Sec. 28.10. ENHANCED PENALTY FOR CERTAIN MISDEMEANORS OR
52	52	STATE JAIL FELONIES. The punishment for an offense under this
53	53	chapter that is punishable as a misdemeanor or a state jail felony
54	54	is increased to the punishment for a felony of the third degree if
55	55	it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor committed the
56	56	offense in the course of or for the purpose of:
57	57	(1) unlawfully entering the United States; or
58	58	(2) engaging in conduct constituting an offense under
59	59	Section 38.04.
60	60	SECTION 4. Section 30.02, Penal Code, is amended by
61	61	amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-2) to read as
62	62	follows:
63	63	(c) Except as provided in Subsection (c-1), (c-2), or (d),
64	64	an offense under this section is a:
65	65	(1) state jail felony if committed in a building other
66	66	than a habitation; or
67	67	(2) felony of the second degree if committed in a
68	68	habitation.
69	69	(c-2) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
70	70	degree if:
71	71	(1) the premises are a building other than a
72	72	habitation; and
73	73	(2) it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
74	74	actor committed the offense in the course of or for the purpose of
75	75	unlawfully entering the United States.
76	76	SECTION 5. Section 30.04(d), Penal Code, is amended to read
77	77	as follows:
78	78	(d) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor,
79	79	except that:
80	80	(1) the offense is a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum
81	81	term of confinement of six months if it is shown on the trial of the
82	82	offense that the defendant has been previously convicted of an
83	83	offense under this section;
84	84	(2) the offense is a state jail felony if:
85	85	(A) it is shown on the trial of the offense that
86	86	the defendant has been previously convicted two or more times of an
87	87	offense under this section; or
88	88	(B) the vehicle or part of the vehicle broken
89	89	into or entered is a rail car; and
90	90	(3) the offense is a felony of the third degree if:
91	91	(A) the vehicle broken into or entered is owned
92	92	or operated by a wholesale distributor of prescription drugs[;] and
93	93	[(B)] the actor breaks into or enters that
94	94	vehicle with the intent to commit theft of a controlled substance;
95	95	or
96	96	(B) it is shown on the trial of the offense that
97	97	the actor committed the offense in the course of or for the purpose
98	98	of unlawfully entering the United States.
99	99	SECTION 6. Section 30.05(d), Penal Code, is amended to read
100	100	as follows:
101	101	(d) Subject to Subsection (d-3), an offense under this
102	102	section is:
103	103	(1) a Class B misdemeanor, except as provided by
104	104	Subdivisions (2), [and] (3), and (4);
105	105	(2) a Class C misdemeanor, except as provided by
106	106	Subdivisions [Subdivision] (3) and (4), if the offense is
107	107	committed:
108	108	(A) on agricultural land and within 100 feet of
109	109	the boundary of the land; or
110	110	(B) on residential land and within 100 feet of a
111	111	protected freshwater area; [and]
112	112	(3) a Class A misdemeanor, except as provided by
113	113	Subdivision (4), if:
114	114	(A) the offense is committed:
115	115	(i) in a habitation or a shelter center;
116	116	(ii) on a Superfund site; or
117	117	(iii) on or in a critical infrastructure
118	118	facility;
119	119	(B) the offense is committed on or in property of
120	120	an institution of higher education and it is shown on the trial of
121	121	the offense that the person has previously been convicted of:
122	122	(i) an offense under this section relating
123	123	to entering or remaining on or in property of an institution of
124	124	higher education; or
125	125	(ii) an offense under Section 51.204(b)(1),
126	126	Education Code, relating to trespassing on the grounds of an
127	127	institution of higher education;
128	128	(C) the person carries a deadly weapon during the
129	129	commission of the offense; or
130	130	(D) the offense is committed on the property of
131	131	or within a general residential operation operating as a
132	132	residential treatment center; and
133	133	(4) a felony of the third degree if it is shown on the
134	134	trial of the offense that the defendant committed the offense in the
135	135	course of or for the purpose of unlawfully entering the United
136	136	States.
137	137	SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
138	138	an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
139	139	offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
140	140	by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
141	141	former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
142	142	this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
143	143	this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that
144	144	date.
145	145	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.