| 1 | | - | By: Bettencourt, West S.B. No. 2046 |
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| 1 | + | By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 2046 |
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| 2 | + | (In the Senate - Filed March 7, 2025; March 17, 2025, read |
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| 3 | + | first time and referred to Committee on Local Government; |
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| 4 | + | April 10, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 4, |
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| 5 | + | Nays 1; April 10, 2025, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | + | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 4 | 7 | | |
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| 5 | 8 | | |
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| 6 | 9 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 7 | 10 | | AN ACT |
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| 8 | 11 | | relating to penalties for certain offenses involving county |
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| 9 | 12 | | competitive bidding requirements; increasing criminal penalties. |
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| 10 | 13 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 14 | | SECTION 1. Section 262.034, Local Government Code, is |
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| 12 | 15 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 16 | | Sec. 262.034. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. (a) A county officer or |
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| 14 | 17 | | employee commits an offense if the officer or employee |
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| 15 | 18 | | intentionally or knowingly makes or authorizes separate, |
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| 16 | 19 | | sequential, or component purchases to avoid the competitive bidding |
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| 17 | 20 | | requirements of Section 262.023. An offense under this subsection |
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| 18 | 21 | | is a Class A [B] misdemeanor, except that the offense is: |
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| 19 | 22 | | (1) a state jail felony if the purchases have an |
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| 20 | 23 | | aggregated value of over $1 million but less than $5 million; and |
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| 21 | 24 | | (2) a felony of the third degree if the purchases have |
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| 22 | 25 | | an aggregated value of $5 million or more. |
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| 23 | 26 | | (b) [(c)] A county officer or employee commits an offense if |
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| 24 | 27 | | the officer or employee intentionally or knowingly violates this |
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| 25 | 28 | | subchapter, other than by conduct described by Subsection (a). An |
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| 26 | 29 | | offense under this subsection is a Class B [C] misdemeanor, except |
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| 27 | 30 | | that the offense is: |
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| 28 | 31 | | (1) a Class A misdemeanor if the conduct involves a |
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| 29 | 32 | | contract that has a value of over $1 million but less than $5 |
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| 30 | 33 | | million; and |
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| 31 | 34 | | (2) a state jail felony if the conduct involves a |
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| 32 | 35 | | contract that has a value of $5 million or more. |
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| 33 | 36 | | SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 34 | 37 | | an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
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| 35 | 38 | | offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed |
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| 36 | 39 | | by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the |
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| 37 | 40 | | former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
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| 38 | 41 | | this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
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| 39 | 42 | | this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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| 40 | 43 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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