88R8429 EAS-D
By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 732
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an exception to the application of the offense of misuse
of official information for journalists.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.06, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) It is an exception to the application of Subsection
(c) that the person solicited or received the information for
purposes of gathering, compiling, preparing, collecting,
photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting,
investigating, processing, or publishing news or information for
dissemination by:
(1) a communication service provider or news medium,
as those terms are defined by Article 38.11, Code of Criminal
Procedure; or
(2) an Internet website, including a social media
platform.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.