BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 636

By: Patterson

Community Safety, Select

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG), in a nonbinding opinion, has stated that presiding election judges are within their rights to lawfully carry a firearm on the premises of a polling place while voting is occurring. Citing a 1913 court decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals where the presiding officer of an election was deemed to have the legal authority of a peace officer with respect to polling places, the OAG suggested a court would interpret the statutes according to the same analysis used in the case and entitle a presiding election judge to carry a firearm. Even so, this is not explicitly stated in law. C.S.H.B. 636 seeks to provide clarity by specifically exempting a presiding election judge from application of the offense for possessing a handgun on the premises of a polling place.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 636 amends the Penal Code to exempt a person carrying a handgun under the authority of a handgun license on the premises of a polling place on the day of an election or while early voting is in progress from the application of the offense for intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly possessing or going with a prohibited weapon on those premises if the person is engaged in the performance of their duties as an election judge or as an early voting clerk or deputy early voting clerk who is serving as an election judge at an early voting polling place. The bill applies only to an offense committed on or after the bill's effective date and provides for the continuation of the law in effect before the bill's effective date for purposes of an offense, or any element thereof, that occurred before that date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 636 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a clarification absent from the introduced that the exemption applies to a person who is engaged in the performance of their duties as an early voting clerk or a deputy early voting clerk who is serving as an election judge at an early voting polling place.