Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1709 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: King S.B. No. 1709
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the prosecution of the offenses of sedition and
7	7	engaging in organized criminal activity; increasing criminal
8	8	penalties.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 557.001, Government Code, is amended by
11	11	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
12	12	follows:
13	13	(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly:
14	14	(1) commits, attempts to commit, or conspires with one
15	15	or more persons to commit an act intended to overthrow,
16	16	destabilize, destroy, or alter the constitutional form of
17	17	government of this state or of any political subdivision of this
18	18	state by force, [or] violence, or a threat of force or violence;
19	19	(2) under circumstances that constitute a clear and
20	20	present danger to the security of this state or a political
21	21	subdivision of this state, advocates, advises, or teaches or
22	22	conspires with one or more persons to advocate, advise, or teach a
23	23	person to commit or attempt to commit an act described in
24	24	Subdivision (1); or
25	25	(3) participates, with knowledge of the nature of the
26	26	organization, in the management of an organization that engages in
27	27	or attempts to engage in an act intended to overthrow, destabilize,
28	28	destroy, or alter the constitutional form of government of this
29	29	state or of any political subdivision of this state by force or
30	30	violence.
31	31	(b-1) Notwithstanding Section 15.02(d), Penal Code, a
32	32	conspiracy to commit an offense under this section is punishable in
33	33	the same manner as an offense under this section.
34	34	SECTION 2. Section 71.02, Penal Code, is amended to read as
35	35	follows:
36	36	Sec. 71.02. ENGAGING IN ORGANIZED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. (a) A
37	37	person commits an offense if, with the intent to establish,
38	38	maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a
39	39	combination or as a member of a criminal street gang or
40	40	transnational criminal organization, the person commits or
41	41	conspires to commit one or more of the following:
42	42	(1) murder, capital murder, arson, aggravated
43	43	robbery, robbery, burglary, theft, aggravated kidnapping,
44	44	kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual
45	45	assault, continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled
46	46	individual, solicitation of a minor, forgery, deadly conduct,
47	47	assault punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, burglary of a motor
48	48	vehicle, or unauthorized use of a motor vehicle;
49	49	(2) any gambling offense punishable as a Class A
50	50	misdemeanor;
51	51	(3) promotion of prostitution, aggravated promotion
52	52	of prostitution, or compelling prostitution;
53	53	(4) unlawful manufacture, transportation, repair, or
54	54	sale of firearms or prohibited weapons;
55	55	(5) unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation, or
56	56	distribution of, or unlawful possession with the intent to deliver
57	57	a controlled substance or dangerous drug, or unlawful possession of
58	58	a controlled substance or dangerous drug through forgery, fraud,
59	59	misrepresentation, or deception;
60	60	(5-a) causing the unlawful delivery, dispensation, or
61	61	distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug in
62	62	violation of Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code;
63	63	(6) any unlawful wholesale promotion or possession of
64	64	any obscene material or obscene device with the intent to wholesale
65	65	promote the same;
66	66	(7) any offense under Subchapter B, Chapter 43,
67	67	depicting or involving conduct by or directed toward a child
68	68	younger than 18 years of age;
69	69	(8) any felony offense under Chapter 32;
70	70	(9) any offense under Chapter 36;
71	71	(10) any offense under Chapter 34, 35, or 35A;
72	72	(11) any offense under Section 37.11(a);
73	73	(12) any offense under Chapter 20A;
74	74	(13) any offense under Section 37.10;
75	75	(14) any offense under Section 38.06, 38.07, 38.09, or
76	76	38.11;
77	77	(15) any offense under Section 42.10;
78	78	(16) any offense under Section 46.06(a)(1) or 46.14;
79	79	(17) any offense under Section 20.05 or 20.06;
80	80	(18) any offense under Section 16.02; or
81	81	(19) any offense classified as a felony under the Tax
82	82	Code.
83	83	(b) Except as provided in Subsections (c), [and] (d), and
84	84	(e), an offense under this section is one category higher than the
85	85	most serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that was committed,
86	86	and if the most serious offense is a Class A misdemeanor, the
87	87	offense is a state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony
88	88	of the first degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas
89	89	Department of Criminal Justice for:
90	90	(1) life without parole, if the most serious offense
91	91	is an aggravated sexual assault and if at the time of that offense
92	92	the defendant is 18 years of age or older and:
93	93	(A) the victim of the offense is younger than six
94	94	years of age;
95	95	(B) the victim of the offense is younger than 14
96	96	years of age and the actor commits the offense in a manner described
97	97	by Section 22.021(a)(2)(A); or
98	98	(C) the victim of the offense is younger than 17
99	99	years of age and suffered serious bodily injury as a result of the
100	100	offense;
101	101	(2) life or for any term of not more than 99 years or
102	102	less than 30 years if the most serious offense is an offense under
103	103	Section 20.06 that is punishable under Subsection (g) of that
104	104	section; or
105	105	(3) life or for any term of not more than 99 years or
106	106	less than 15 years if the most serious offense is an offense
107	107	punishable as a felony of the first degree, other than an offense
108	108	described by Subdivision (1) or (2).
109	109	(c) Notwithstanding Section 15.02(d), a conspiracy
110	110	[Conspiring] to commit an offense under this section is punishable
111	111	in [is of] the same manner as an offense under this section [degree
112	112	as the most serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that the person
113	113	conspired to commit].
114	114	(d) At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may
115	115	raise the issue as to whether in voluntary and complete
116	116	renunciation of the offense he withdrew from the combination before
117	117	commission of an offense listed in Subsection (a) and made
118	118	substantial effort to prevent the commission of the offense. If the
119	119	defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of
120	120	the evidence the offense is the same category of offense as the most
121	121	serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that is committed[, unless
122	122	the defendant is convicted of conspiring to commit the offense, in
123	123	which event the offense is one category lower than the most serious
124	124	offense that the defendant conspired to commit].
125	125	(e) An offense that is punishable as a second degree felony
126	126	or as any lower category of offense under Subsection (b) is one
127	127	additional category higher than the category listed under
128	128	Subsection (b) if the person used or exhibited a deadly weapon
129	129	during the commission of one or more of the offenses listed under
130	130	Subsection (a) and if an offense is punishable as a Class A
131	131	misdemeanor under Subsection (b), the offense is a state jail
132	132	felony.
133	133	(f) In this section, "transnational criminal organization"
134	134	means two or more persons with an identifiable leadership who
135	135	operate internationally and who continuously or regularly
136	136	associate to engage in corruption, violence, or the commission of
137	137	other criminal activities.
138	138	SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
139	139	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
140	140	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
141	141	governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
142	142	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
143	143	purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
144	144	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
145	145	before that date.
146	146	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.