By: Guillen H.B. No. 379
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution and punishment of the offense of false
caller identification information display.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 33A.051, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read
as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person[, with the
intent to defraud or cause harm,] makes a call or engages in any
other conduct using any type of technology that results in the
display on another person's telecommunications device of data that
misrepresents the actor's identity or telephone number.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class B [A]
misdemeanor, except that the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the
actor committed the offense with the intent to defraud or cause
harm.
(c) it is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
section that the identity or telephone number displayed:
(1) is a working number at which calls or any other
conduct using any type of technology are answered; and
(2) legally belongs to:
(A) the actor;
(B) the actor's legal employer;
(C) the actor's coworker or associate;
(D) the person or entity legally contracting the
actor to call or engage in any other conduct using any type of
technology for a lawful purpose; or
(E) the person or entity the actor is
volunteering for to call or engage in any other conduct using any
type of technology for a lawful purpose.
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, 2025.