Bill Text: TX HB1357 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to the prosecution of offenses involving cruelty to animals; increasing a criminal penalty.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-21 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB1357 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB1357-Introduced.html

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85R5390 KJE-F
By: Moody H.B. No. 1357

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of offenses involving cruelty to
animals and to the inclusion of related conduct in the definition of
family violence; increasing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 42.013, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 42.013. FINDING OF FAMILY VIOLENCE. In the trial of an
offense under Title 5 or Section 42.092, Penal Code, if the court
determines that the offense involved family violence, as defined by
Section 71.004, Family Code, the court shall make an affirmative
finding of that fact and enter the affirmative finding in the
judgment of the case.
SECTION 2. Section 71.004, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 71.004. FAMILY VIOLENCE. (a) "Family violence"
means:
(1) an act by a member of a family or household against
another member of the family or household that is intended to result
in physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault or that
is a threat that reasonably places the member in fear of imminent
physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, but does
not include defensive measures to protect oneself;
(2) abuse, as that term is defined by Sections
261.001(1)(C), (E), (G), (H), (I), (J), and (K), by a member of a
family or household toward a child of the family or household; [or]
(3) dating violence, as that term is defined by
Section 71.0021; or
(4) an act that constitutes an offense, or an attempt
or threat to commit an offense, under Section 42.092, Penal Code:
(A) against an animal owned or possessed by a
member of the actor's family or household or by a person with whom
the actor has or has had a dating relationship; and
(B) with the intent to coerce, control, punish,
or intimidate the member or person.
(b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(4):
(1) coercion, as defined by Section 1.07, Penal Code,
includes the use of force or a threat of force to compel a person to:
(A) engage in conduct from which the person has
the right or privilege to abstain; or
(B) abstain from conduct in which the person has
the right or privilege to engage; and
(2) possession of an animal by a person means:
(A) actual care, custody, control, or management
of an animal by the person; or
(B) constructive possession of an animal owned by
the person or for which the person has been the primary caregiver.
SECTION 3. Section 42.092, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c) and (f) and adding Subsections (c-1) and
(c-2) to read as follows:
(c) An offense under Subsection (b)(3), (4), (5), (6), or
(9) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state
jail felony if the person has previously been convicted [two times]
under this section[, two times under Section 42.09,] or [one time
under this section and one time] under Section 42.09.
(c-1) An offense under Subsection (b)(1) or[,] (2) is a
felony of the third degree, except that the offense is a felony of
the second degree if the person has previously been convicted under
Subsection (b)(1), (2), (7), or (8) or under Section 42.09.
(c-2) An offense under Subsection (b)(7)[, (7),] or (8) is a
state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony of the third
degree if the person has previously been convicted [two times]
under this section[, two times under Section 42.09,] or [one time
under this section and one time] under Section 42.09.
(f) It is a defense to prosecution under [an exception to
the application of] this section that the conduct engaged in by the
actor is a generally accepted and otherwise lawful:
(1) form of conduct occurring solely for the purpose
of or in support of:
(A) fishing, hunting, or trapping; or
(B) wildlife management, wildlife or depredation
control, or shooting preserve practices as regulated by state and
federal law; or
(2) animal husbandry or agriculture practice
involving livestock animals.
SECTION 4. Section 822.013, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) It is not a defense to prosecution under Section 42.092,
Penal Code, that the actor's conduct was authorized under this
section.
SECTION 5. Section 821.023(b), Health and Safety Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 6. 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 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.