By: King S.B. No. 2320
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to increasing the criminal punishment for certain driving
while intoxicated offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 49.04(b), (c), and (d), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d) and
Section 49.09, an offense under this section is a Class A [B]
misdemeanor, with a minimum term of confinement of 72 hours.
(c) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
section that at the time of the offense the person operating the
motor vehicle had an open container of alcohol in the person's
immediate possession, the offense is a Class A [B] misdemeanor,
with a minimum term of confinement of six days.
(d) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
section that an analysis of a specimen of the person's blood,
breath, or urine showed an alcohol concentration level of 0.15 or
more at the time the analysis was performed, the offense is a state
jail felony [Class A misdemeanor].
SECTION 2. Section 49.09(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), [an offense under
Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, or 49.065 is a Class A misdemeanor,
with a minimum term of confinement of 30 days,] if it is shown on the
trial of the offense that the person has previously been convicted
one time of an offense relating to the operating of a motor vehicle
while intoxicated, an offense of operating an aircraft while
intoxicated, an offense of operating a watercraft while
intoxicated, or an offense of operating or assembling an amusement
ride while intoxicated:
(1) an offense under Section 49.05, 49.06, or 49.065
is a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum term of confinement of 30
days; and
(2) an offense under Section 49.04 is a state jail
felony.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.