Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1601 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R10843 JRR-F
2	2	By: Hagenbuch S.B. No. 1601
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the legal justification for using force or deadly force
10	10	in response to the commission or attempted commission of a violent
11	11	felony.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 9.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding
14	14	Subdivision (6) to read as follows:
15	15	(6) "Violent felony" means a felony offense under
16	16	state law, federal law, or the laws of a federally recognized Indian
17	17	tribe that has as an element the intentional or knowing use,
18	18	attempted use, or threatened use of force or deadly force against
19	19	any person.
20	20	SECTION 2. Section 9.31(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
21	21	as follows:
22	22	(a) Except as provided in Subsection (b), a person is
23	23	justified in using force against another when and to the degree the
24	24	actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to
25	25	protect the actor against the other's use or attempted use of
26	26	unlawful force. The actor's belief that the force was immediately
27	27	necessary as described by this subsection is presumed to be
28	28	reasonable if the actor:
29	29	(1) knew or had reason to believe that the person
30	30	against whom the force was used:
31	31	(A) unlawfully and with force entered, or was
32	32	attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the actor's occupied
33	33	habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment;
34	34	(B) unlawfully and with force removed, or was
35	35	attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the actor from the
36	36	actor's habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; or
37	37	(C) was committing or attempting to commit
38	38	aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual
39	39	assault, robbery, [or] aggravated robbery, or another violent
40	40	felony;
41	41	(2) did not provoke the person against whom the force
42	42	was used; and
43	43	(3) was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity,
44	44	other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or
45	45	ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used.
46	46	SECTION 3. Section 9.32(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
47	47	as follows:
48	48	(a) A person is justified in using deadly force against
49	49	another:
50	50	(1) if the actor would be justified in using force
51	51	against the other under Section 9.31; and
52	52	(2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably
53	53	believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:
54	54	(A) to protect the actor against the other's use
55	55	or attempted use of unlawful deadly force; or
56	56	(B) to prevent the other's imminent commission of
57	57	aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual
58	58	assault, robbery, [or] aggravated robbery, or another violent
59	59	felony.
60	60	SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
61	61	an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
62	62	offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
63	63	by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
64	64	former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
65	65	this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
66	66	this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
67	67	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.