Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4616 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R4518 MZM-D
2	2	By: Lopez of Cameron H.B. No. 4616
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to creating the criminal offenses of transnational
10	10	repression and unauthorized enforcement of foreign law and to a
11	11	study and law enforcement training regarding transnational
12	12	repression.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Chapter 76, Penal Code, is amended by adding
15	15	Sections 76.045 and 76.046 to read as follows:
16	16	Sec. 76.045. TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION. (a) In this
17	17	section:
18	18	(1) "Agent of a foreign government or foreign
19	19	terrorist organization" means a person acting on behalf of or
20	20	otherwise employed or controlled by a foreign government or foreign
21	21	terrorist organization.
22	22	(2) "Foreign terrorist organization" has the meaning
23	23	assigned by Section 71.01.
24	24	(3) "Protected conduct" means any speech or expressive
25	25	conduct protected by the First Amendment to the United States
26	26	Constitution or by Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution.
27	27	(b) A person commits an offense if:
28	28	(1) the person commits or conspires to commit an
29	29	offense under:
30	30	(A) Section 22.01;
31	31	(B) Section 22.02;
32	32	(C) Section 42.07; or
33	33	(D) Section 42.072;
34	34	(2) the person commits or conspires to commit an
35	35	offense described by Subdivision (1) with the intent to:
36	36	(A) cause another person to act on behalf of a
37	37	foreign government or a foreign terrorist organization;
38	38	(B) cause another person to leave the United
39	39	States;
40	40	(C) discourage another person from engaging in
41	41	protected conduct; or
42	42	(D) retaliate against another person for
43	43	engaging in protected conduct; and
44	44	(3) the person commits or conspires to commit that
45	45	offense as an agent of a foreign government or foreign terrorist
46	46	organization.
47	47	(c) An offense under this section is one category higher
48	48	than the most serious offense listed in Subsection (b)(1) that was
49	49	committed or conspired to be committed, except that:
50	50	(1) if the most serious offense is a Class A
51	51	misdemeanor, the offense under this section is a Class A
52	52	misdemeanor with a minimum term of confinement of 180 days; and
53	53	(2) if the most serious offense is a felony of the
54	54	first degree, the offense under this section is a felony of the
55	55	first degree with a minimum term of confinement of 15 years.
56	56	Sec. 76.046. UNAUTHORIZED ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN LAW. (a)
57	57	In this section, "agent of a foreign government or foreign
58	58	terrorist organization" has the meaning assigned by Section 76.045.
59	59	(b) A person commits an offense if, as an agent of a foreign
60	60	government or foreign terrorist organization, the person, without
61	61	the approval of this state or the United States:
62	62	(1) prevents another person in this state from
63	63	violating the laws of a foreign government; or
64	64	(2) detects, investigates, monitors, or surveilles
65	65	another person in this state for the purpose of preventing the other
66	66	person from violating the laws of a foreign government.
67	67	(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
68	68	degree.
69	69	SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
70	70	amended by adding Section 411.02098 to read as follows:
71	71	Sec. 411.02098. TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION TRAINING PROGRAM.
72	72	(a) In this section:
73	73	(1) "Agent of a foreign government or foreign
74	74	terrorist organization" and "agent" mean a person acting on behalf
75	75	of or otherwise employed or controlled by a foreign government or
76	76	foreign terrorist organization.
77	77	(2) "Foreign terrorist organization" has the meaning
78	78	assigned by Section 71.01, Penal Code.
79	79	(3) "Peace officer" means an individual described by
80	80	Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure.
81	81	(4) "Transnational repression" means conduct
82	82	described by Section 76.045(b), Penal Code.
83	83	(b) The criminal investigations division of the department
84	84	shall develop a training program for peace officers regarding
85	85	transnational repression. The training program must:
86	86	(1) prepare peace officers to:
87	87	(A) identify transnational repression;
88	88	(B) develop practices for preventing, reporting,
89	89	and responding to transnational repression; and
90	90	(C) recognize communities targeted by
91	91	transnational repression and misinformation that may be
92	92	perpetuated by an agent of a foreign government or foreign
93	93	terrorist organization; and
94	94	(2) include information about foreign governments and
95	95	foreign terrorist organizations that are frequently involved in
96	96	transnational repression and the methods those governments and
97	97	organizations use.
98	98	(c) The criminal investigations division shall regularly
99	99	update the training under Subsection (b) to address emerging
100	100	threats and new transnational repression methods used by agents of
101	101	a foreign government or foreign terrorist organization.
102	102	SECTION 3. (a) The criminal investigations division of the
103	103	Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas, in collaboration
104	104	with the office of the governor, shall conduct a study on the threat
105	105	of transnational repression, as that conduct is described by
106	106	Section 76.045(b), Penal Code, as added by this Act. Not later than
107	107	March 1, 2026, the Department of Public Safety shall prepare and
108	108	submit to each member of the legislature a report on the conclusions
109	109	of the study and any recommendations for legislative or other
110	110	action to reduce the threat of transnational repression.
111	111	(b) This section expires April 1, 2026.
112	112	SECTION 4. Not later than April 1, 2026, the criminal
113	113	investigations division of the Department of Public Safety shall
114	114	develop the training required by Section 411.02098, Government
115	115	Code, as added by this Act.
116	116	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.