| 1 | 1 | | By: Guillen H.B. No. 379 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 7 | 7 | | AN ACT |
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| 8 | 8 | | relating to the prosecution and punishment of the offense of false |
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| 9 | 9 | | caller identification information display. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Sections 33A.051, Penal Code, is amended by |
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| 12 | 12 | | amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read |
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| 13 | 13 | | as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (a) A person commits an offense if the person[, with the |
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| 15 | 15 | | intent to defraud or cause harm,] makes a call or engages in any |
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| 16 | 16 | | other conduct using any type of technology that results in the |
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| 17 | 17 | | display on another person's telecommunications device of data that |
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| 18 | 18 | | misrepresents the actor's identity or telephone number. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (b) An offense under this section is a Class B [A] |
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| 20 | 20 | | misdemeanor, except that the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the |
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| 21 | 21 | | actor committed the offense with the intent to defraud or cause |
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| 22 | 22 | | harm. |
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| 23 | 23 | | (c) it is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this |
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| 24 | 24 | | section that the identity or telephone number displayed: |
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| 25 | 25 | | (1) is a working number at which calls or any other |
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| 26 | 26 | | conduct using any type of technology are answered; and |
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| 27 | 27 | | (2) legally belongs to: |
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| 28 | 28 | | (A) the actor; |
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| 29 | 29 | | (B) the actor's legal employer; |
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| 30 | 30 | | (C) the actor's coworker or associate; |
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| 31 | 31 | | (D) the person or entity legally contracting the |
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| 32 | 32 | | actor to call or engage in any other conduct using any type of |
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| 33 | 33 | | technology for a lawful purpose; or |
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| 34 | 34 | | (E) the person or entity the actor is |
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| 35 | 35 | | volunteering for to call or engage in any other conduct using any |
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| 36 | 36 | | type of technology for a lawful purpose. |
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| 37 | 37 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 38 | 38 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 39 | 39 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 40 | 40 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 41 | 41 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 42 | 42 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 43 | 43 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 44 | 44 | | before that date. |
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| 45 | 45 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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