Bill Text: TX HB624 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain offenses committed in retaliation for or on account of a person's service or status as a public servant.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-16 - Effective on 9/1/21 [HB624 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB624-Enrolled.html
| H.B. No. 624 | ||
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| relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain offenses | ||
| committed in retaliation for or on account of a person's service or | ||
| status as a public servant. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Penal Code, is amended | ||
| by adding Section 12.501 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 12.501. PENALTY FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES COMMITTED IN | ||
| RETALIATION FOR OR ON ACCOUNT OF PERSON'S SERVICE OR STATUS AS | ||
| PUBLIC SERVANT. (a) In this section, "public servant" has the | ||
| meaning assigned by Section 36.06. | ||
| (b) Subject to Subsection (d), the punishment for an offense | ||
| described by Subsection (c) is increased to the punishment | ||
| prescribed for the next higher category of offense if it is shown on | ||
| the trial of the offense that: | ||
| (1) the offense: | ||
| (A) was committed against a person the actor | ||
| knows is a public servant or a member of a public servant's family | ||
| or household; or | ||
| (B) involves property that the actor knows | ||
| belongs to, is under the control of, or is lawfully possessed by a | ||
| public servant; and | ||
| (2) the offense was committed in retaliation for or on | ||
| account of the service or status of the person as a public servant. | ||
| (c) The increase in punishment authorized by this section | ||
| applies only to: | ||
| (1) an offense under Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, | ||
| 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072; or | ||
| (2) an offense under Section 32.51, other than an | ||
| offense punishable under Subsection (c-1) of that section. | ||
| (d) If an offense described by Subsection (c) is punishable | ||
| as a Class A misdemeanor, the minimum term of confinement for the | ||
| offense is increased to 180 days. If an offense described by | ||
| Subsection (c) is punishable as a felony of the first degree, the | ||
| punishment for that offense may not be increased under this | ||
| section. | ||
| (e) For purposes of this section, "member of a public | ||
| servant's family" means a person related to the public servant | ||
| within the second degree of consanguinity. | ||
| SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I certify that H.B. No. 624 was passed by the House on April | ||
| 29, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 130, Nays 15, 1 present, not | ||
| voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| I certify that H.B. No. 624 was passed by the Senate on May | ||
| 24, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 1. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| APPROVED: _____________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| _____________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
