| 1 | 1 | | By: Cook H.B. No. 4 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to the punishment for the criminal offense of operation of |
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| 7 | 7 | | a stash house; increasing a criminal penalty. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Section 20.07(b), Penal Code, is amended to read |
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| 10 | 10 | | as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third |
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| 12 | 12 | | degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if |
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| 13 | 13 | | it is shown on the trial of the offense that as a direct result of |
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| 14 | 14 | | the commission of the offense: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (1) an individual became a victim of sexual assault, |
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| 16 | 16 | | as defined by Section 22.011, or aggravated sexual assault, as |
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| 17 | 17 | | defined by Section 22.021; or |
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| 18 | 18 | | (2) an individual suffered serious bodily injury or |
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| 19 | 19 | | death [Class A misdemeanor]. |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 21 | 21 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 22 | 22 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 23 | 23 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 24 | 24 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For the |
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| 25 | 25 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 26 | 26 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 27 | 27 | | before that date. |
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| 28 | 28 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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