| 1 | 1 | | By: Hughes S.B. No. 2876 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Filed March 14, 2025; April 7, 2025, read |
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| 3 | 3 | | first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice; |
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| 4 | 4 | | April 9, 2025, re-referred to Committee on State Affairs; |
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| 5 | 5 | | April 22, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 10, |
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| 6 | 6 | | Nays 0; April 22, 2025, sent to printer.) |
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| 7 | 7 | | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 8 | 8 | | |
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| 9 | 9 | | |
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| 10 | 10 | | |
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| 11 | 11 | | |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 13 | 13 | | AN ACT |
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| 14 | 14 | | relating to increasing the criminal penalty for participating in a |
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| 15 | 15 | | riot while wearing a mask or other face covering. |
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| 16 | 16 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. Section 42.02(f), Penal Code, is amended to read |
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| 18 | 18 | | as follows: |
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| 19 | 19 | | (f) An offense under this section is: |
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| 20 | 20 | | (1) an offense of the same classification as any |
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| 21 | 21 | | offense of a higher grade committed by anyone engaged in the riot if |
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| 22 | 22 | | the offense was: |
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| 23 | 23 | | (A) [(1)] in the furtherance of the purpose of |
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| 24 | 24 | | the assembly; or |
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| 25 | 25 | | (B) [(2)] an offense which should have been |
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| 26 | 26 | | anticipated as a result of the assembly; or |
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| 27 | 27 | | (2) a Class A misdemeanor if it is shown on the trial |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the offense that at the time of the offense the actor was wearing |
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| 29 | 29 | | a mask or other face covering with the intent to conceal the actor's |
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| 30 | 30 | | identity. |
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| 31 | 31 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 32 | 32 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 33 | 33 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 34 | 34 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 35 | 35 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 36 | 36 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 37 | 37 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 38 | 38 | | before that date. |
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| 39 | 39 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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| 40 | 40 | | * * * * * |
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