Bill Text: TX SB1900 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to foreign terrorist organizations, including the compilation of information regarding, certain civil actions brought against, and the prosecution of certain organized crime offenses involving a foreign terrorist organization and of sedition.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-06-09 - Effective on 9/1/23 [SB1900 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB1900-Enrolled.html
S.B. No. 1900 |
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relating to foreign terrorist organizations, including the | ||
compilation of information regarding, certain civil actions | ||
brought against, and the prosecution of certain organized crime | ||
offenses involving a foreign terrorist organization and of | ||
sedition. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter D, Chapter 125, Civil | ||
Practice and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER D. MEMBERSHIP IN CRIMINAL STREET GANG OR FOREIGN | ||
TERRORIST ORGANIZATION | ||
SECTION 2. Sections 125.061(1) and (3), Civil Practice and | ||
Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(1) "Combination," [ |
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"foreign terrorist organization" have the meanings assigned by | ||
Section 71.01, Penal Code. | ||
(3) "Gang activity" means the following types of | ||
conduct: | ||
(A) organized criminal activity as described by | ||
Section 71.02, Penal Code; | ||
(B) terroristic threat as described by Section | ||
22.07, Penal Code; | ||
(C) coercing, inducing, or soliciting[ |
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terrorist organization as described by Section 71.022(a) or (a-1), | ||
Penal Code; | ||
(D) criminal trespass as described by Section | ||
30.05, Penal Code; | ||
(E) disorderly conduct as described by Section | ||
42.01, Penal Code; | ||
(F) criminal mischief as described by Section | ||
28.03, Penal Code, that causes a pecuniary loss of $500 or more; | ||
(G) a graffiti offense in violation of Section | ||
28.08, Penal Code; | ||
(H) a weapons offense in violation of Chapter 46, | ||
Penal Code; or | ||
(I) unlawful possession of a substance or other | ||
item in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 125.062, Civil Practice and Remedies | ||
Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 125.062. PUBLIC NUISANCE; COMBINATION. A | ||
combination, [ |
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organization that continuously or regularly associates in gang | ||
activities is a public nuisance. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 125.063, Civil Practice and Remedies | ||
Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 125.063. PUBLIC NUISANCE; USE OF PLACE. The habitual | ||
use of a place by a combination, [ |
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foreign terrorist organization for engaging in gang activity is a | ||
public nuisance. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 125.064(b), Civil Practice and Remedies | ||
Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) Any person who habitually associates with others to | ||
engage in gang activity as a member of a combination, [ |
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street gang, or foreign terrorist organization may be made a | ||
defendant in the suit. Any person who owns or is responsible for | ||
maintaining a place that is habitually used for engaging in gang | ||
activity may be made a defendant in the suit. | ||
SECTION 6. Section 125.065(a), Civil Practice and Remedies | ||
Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) If the court finds that a combination, [ |
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street gang, or foreign terrorist organization constitutes a public | ||
nuisance, the court may enter an order: | ||
(1) enjoining a defendant in the suit from engaging in | ||
the gang activities of the combination, [ |
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or foreign terrorist organization; and | ||
(2) imposing other reasonable requirements to prevent | ||
the combination, [ |
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organization from engaging in future gang activities. | ||
SECTION 7. Section 125.069, Civil Practice and Remedies | ||
Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 125.069. USE OF PLACE; EVIDENCE. In an action brought | ||
under this subchapter, proof that gang activity by a member of a | ||
combination, [ |
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organization is frequently committed at a place or proof that a | ||
place is frequently used for engaging in gang activity by a member | ||
of a combination, [ |
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terrorist organization is prima facie evidence that the proprietor | ||
knowingly permitted the act, unless the act constitutes conspiring | ||
to commit gang activity. | ||
SECTION 8. Sections 125.070(b), (c), and (e), Civil | ||
Practice and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) A criminal street gang or foreign terrorist | ||
organization or a member of a criminal street gang or foreign | ||
terrorist organization is liable to the state or a governmental | ||
entity injured by the violation of a temporary or permanent | ||
injunctive order under this subchapter. | ||
(c) In an action brought against a member of a criminal | ||
street gang or a member of a foreign terrorist organization, the | ||
plaintiff must show that the member violated the temporary or | ||
permanent injunctive order. | ||
(e) The property of the criminal street gang or foreign | ||
terrorist organization or a member of the criminal street gang or | ||
foreign terrorist organization may be seized in execution on a | ||
judgment under this section. Property may not be seized under this | ||
subsection if the owner or interest holder of the property proves by | ||
a preponderance of the evidence that the owner or interest holder | ||
was not a member of the criminal street gang or foreign terrorist | ||
organization and did not violate the temporary or permanent | ||
injunctive order. The owner or interest holder of property that is | ||
in the possession of a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist | ||
organization or a member of the criminal street gang or foreign | ||
terrorist organization and that is subject to execution under this | ||
subsection must show that the property: | ||
(1) was stolen from the owner or interest holder; or | ||
(2) was used or intended to be used without the | ||
effective consent of the owner or interest holder by the criminal | ||
street gang or foreign terrorist organization or a member of the | ||
criminal street gang or foreign terrorist organization. | ||
SECTION 9. Article 67.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended by adding Subdivision (8-a) and amending Subdivision (9) to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(8-a) "Foreign terrorist organization" has the meaning | ||
assigned by Section 71.01, Penal Code. | ||
(9) "Intelligence database" means a collection or | ||
compilation of data organized for search and retrieval to evaluate, | ||
analyze, disseminate, or use intelligence information relating to a | ||
combination, [ |
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organization for the purpose of investigating or prosecuting a | ||
criminal offense. | ||
SECTION 10. Articles 67.051(a) and (b), Code of Criminal | ||
Procedure, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) Subject to Subsection (b), a criminal justice agency or | ||
juvenile justice agency shall compile criminal information into an | ||
intelligence database for the purpose of investigating or | ||
prosecuting the criminal activities of combinations, [ |
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street gangs, or foreign terrorist organizations. | ||
(b) A law enforcement agency in a municipality with a | ||
population of 50,000 or more or in a county with a population of | ||
100,000 or more shall compile and maintain in a local or regional | ||
intelligence database criminal information relating to a criminal | ||
street gang or a foreign terrorist organization as provided by | ||
Subsection (a). The agency must compile and maintain the | ||
information in accordance with the criminal intelligence systems | ||
operating policies established under 28 C.F.R. Section 23.1 et seq. | ||
and the submission criteria established under Article 67.054(b). | ||
SECTION 11. Article 67.054(b), Code of Criminal Procedure, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) Criminal information collected under this chapter | ||
relating to a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist | ||
organization must: | ||
(1) be relevant to the identification of an | ||
organization that is reasonably suspected of involvement in | ||
criminal activity; and | ||
(2) consist of: | ||
(A) a judgment under any law that includes, as a | ||
finding or as an element of a criminal offense, participation in a | ||
criminal street gang or foreign terrorist organization; | ||
(B) a self-admission by an individual of | ||
membership in a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist | ||
organization [ |
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proceeding; or | ||
(C) except as provided by Subsection (c), any two | ||
of the following: | ||
(i) a self-admission by the individual of | ||
membership in a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist | ||
organization [ |
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proceeding, including the use of the Internet or other electronic | ||
format or medium to post photographs or other documentation | ||
identifying the individual as a member of a criminal street gang or | ||
foreign terrorist organization; | ||
(ii) an identification of the individual as | ||
a member of a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist | ||
organization [ |
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(iii) a corroborated identification of the | ||
individual as a member of a criminal street gang or foreign | ||
terrorist organization [ |
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of unknown reliability; | ||
(iv) evidence that the individual frequents | ||
a documented area of a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist | ||
organization and associates with known members of a criminal street | ||
gang or foreign terrorist organization [ |
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(v) evidence that the individual uses, in | ||
more than an incidental manner, criminal street gang or foreign | ||
terrorist organization dress, hand signals, tattoos, or symbols, | ||
including expressions of letters, numbers, words, or marks, | ||
regardless of how or the means by which the symbols are displayed, | ||
that are associated with a criminal street gang or foreign | ||
terrorist organization that operates in an area frequented by the | ||
individual and described by Subparagraph (iv); | ||
(vi) evidence that the individual has been | ||
arrested or taken into custody with known members of a criminal | ||
street gang or foreign terrorist organization [ |
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offense or conduct consistent with [ |
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as defined by Section 125.061, Civil Practice and Remedies Code; | ||
(vii) evidence that the individual has | ||
visited a known member of a criminal street gang or foreign | ||
terrorist organization [ |
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individual, while the [ |
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penal institution; or | ||
(viii) evidence of the individual's use of | ||
technology, including the Internet, to recruit new members of a | ||
criminal street gang or foreign terrorist organization [ |
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SECTION 12. Articles 67.102(a) and (d), Code of Criminal | ||
Procedure, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) Notwithstanding Chapter 58, Family Code, criminal | ||
information relating to a child associated with a combination, [ |
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criminal street gang, or foreign terrorist organization may be | ||
compiled and released under this chapter regardless of the age of | ||
the child. | ||
(d) The governing body of a county or municipality served by | ||
a law enforcement agency described by Article 67.051(b) may adopt a | ||
policy to notify the parent or guardian of a child of the agency's | ||
observations relating to the child's association with a criminal | ||
street gang or foreign terrorist organization. | ||
SECTION 13. Article 67.251, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Art. 67.251. ESTABLISHMENT OF GANG RESOURCE SYSTEM. The | ||
office of the attorney general shall establish an electronic gang | ||
resource system to provide criminal justice agencies and juvenile | ||
justice agencies with information about criminal street gangs and | ||
foreign terrorist organizations in this state. | ||
SECTION 14. Articles 67.252(a) and (b), Code of Criminal | ||
Procedure, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) The gang resource system established under Article | ||
67.251 may include the following information with regard to any | ||
gang or foreign terrorist organization: | ||
(1) gang or organization name; | ||
(2) gang or organization identifiers, such as colors | ||
used, tattoos, and clothing preferences; | ||
(3) criminal activities; | ||
(4) migration trends; | ||
(5) recruitment activities; and | ||
(6) a local law enforcement contact. | ||
(b) Information in the gang resource system shall be | ||
accessible according to: | ||
(1) municipality or county; and | ||
(2) gang or organization name. | ||
SECTION 15. Article 67.254(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) On request by the office of the attorney general, a | ||
criminal justice agency or juvenile justice agency shall make a | ||
reasonable attempt to provide gang and foreign terrorist | ||
organization information to the office of the attorney general for | ||
the purpose of maintaining an updated, comprehensive gang resource | ||
system. | ||
SECTION 16. Article 67.255, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Art. 67.255. USE OF INFORMATION. Information in the gang | ||
resource system may be used in investigating [ |
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relating to a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist | ||
organization. Information from the system may be included in an | ||
affidavit or subpoena or used in connection with any other legal or | ||
judicial proceeding only if the information is corroborated by | ||
information not provided by or maintained in the system. | ||
SECTION 17. Section 557.001, Government Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly: | ||
(1) commits, attempts to commit, or conspires with one | ||
or more persons to commit an act intended to overthrow, | ||
destabilize, destroy, or alter the constitutional form of | ||
government of this state or of any political subdivision of this | ||
state by force, [ |
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(2) under circumstances that constitute a clear and | ||
present danger to the security of this state or a political | ||
subdivision of this state, advocates, advises, or teaches or | ||
conspires with one or more persons to advocate, advise, or teach a | ||
person to commit or attempt to commit an act described in | ||
Subdivision (1); or | ||
(3) participates, with knowledge of the nature of the | ||
organization, in the management of an organization that engages in | ||
or attempts to engage in an act intended to overthrow, destabilize, | ||
destroy, or alter the constitutional form of government of this | ||
state or of any political subdivision of this state by force or | ||
violence. | ||
(b-1) Notwithstanding Section 15.02(d), Penal Code, a | ||
conspiracy to commit an offense under this section is punishable in | ||
the same manner as an offense under this section. | ||
SECTION 18. Section 71.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subsection (e) to read as follows: | ||
(e) "Foreign terrorist organization" means three or more | ||
persons operating as an organization at least partially outside the | ||
United States who engage in criminal activity and threaten the | ||
security of this state or its residents, including but not limited | ||
to a drug cartel. | ||
SECTION 19. Section 71.02, Penal Code, is amended to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 71.02. ENGAGING IN ORGANIZED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. | ||
(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to establish, | ||
maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a | ||
combination or as a member of a criminal street gang or foreign | ||
terrorist organization, the person commits or conspires to commit | ||
one or more of the following: | ||
(1) murder, capital murder, arson, aggravated | ||
robbery, robbery, burglary, theft, aggravated kidnapping, | ||
kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual | ||
assault, continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled | ||
individual, solicitation of a minor, forgery, deadly conduct, | ||
assault punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, burglary of a motor | ||
vehicle, or unauthorized use of a motor vehicle; | ||
(2) any gambling offense punishable as a Class A | ||
misdemeanor; | ||
(3) promotion of prostitution, aggravated promotion | ||
of prostitution, or compelling prostitution; | ||
(4) unlawful manufacture, transportation, repair, or | ||
sale of firearms or prohibited weapons; | ||
(5) unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation, or | ||
distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug, or | ||
unlawful possession of a controlled substance or dangerous drug: | ||
(A) through forgery, fraud, misrepresentation, | ||
or deception; or | ||
(B) with the intent to deliver the controlled | ||
substance or dangerous drug; | ||
(5-a) causing the unlawful delivery, dispensation, or | ||
distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug in | ||
violation of Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code; | ||
(6) any unlawful wholesale promotion or possession of | ||
any obscene material or obscene device with the intent to wholesale | ||
promote the same; | ||
(7) any offense under Subchapter B, Chapter 43, | ||
depicting or involving conduct by or directed toward a child | ||
younger than 18 years of age; | ||
(8) any felony offense under Chapter 32; | ||
(9) any offense under Chapter 36; | ||
(10) any offense under Chapter 34, 35, or 35A; | ||
(11) any offense under Section 37.11(a); | ||
(12) any offense under Chapter 20A; | ||
(13) any offense under Section 37.10; | ||
(14) any offense under Section 38.06, 38.07, 38.09, or | ||
38.11; | ||
(15) any offense under Section 42.10; | ||
(16) any offense under Section 46.06(a)(1) or 46.14; | ||
(17) any offense under Section 20.05, [ |
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20.07; | ||
(18) any offense under Section 16.02; or | ||
(19) any offense classified as a felony under the Tax | ||
Code. | ||
(b) Except as provided in Subsections (c), [ |
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(e), an offense under this section is one category higher than the | ||
most serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that was committed, | ||
and if the most serious offense is a Class A misdemeanor, the | ||
offense is a state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony | ||
of the first degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas | ||
Department of Criminal Justice for: | ||
(1) life without parole, if the most serious offense | ||
is an aggravated sexual assault and if at the time of that offense | ||
the defendant is 18 years of age or older and: | ||
(A) the victim of the offense is younger than six | ||
years of age; | ||
(B) the victim of the offense is younger than 14 | ||
years of age and the actor commits the offense in a manner described | ||
by Section 22.021(a)(2)(A); or | ||
(C) the victim of the offense is younger than 17 | ||
years of age and suffered serious bodily injury as a result of the | ||
offense; | ||
(2) life or for any term of not more than 99 years or | ||
less than 30 years if the most serious offense is an offense under | ||
Section 20.06 that is punishable under Subsection (g) of that | ||
section; or | ||
(3) life or for any term of not more than 99 years or | ||
less than 15 years if the most serious offense is an offense | ||
punishable as a felony of the first degree, other than an offense | ||
described by Subdivision (1) or (2). | ||
(c) Notwithstanding Section 15.02(d), a conspiracy | ||
[ |
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in [ |
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(d) At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may | ||
raise the issue as to whether in voluntary and complete | ||
renunciation of the offense he withdrew from the combination before | ||
commission of an offense listed in Subsection (a) and made | ||
substantial effort to prevent the commission of the offense. If | ||
the defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a | ||
preponderance of the evidence the offense is the same category of | ||
offense as the most serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that is | ||
committed[ |
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(e) An offense that is punishable as a second degree felony | ||
or as any lower category of offense under Subsection (b) is one | ||
additional category higher than the category listed under | ||
Subsection (b) if the person used or exhibited a deadly weapon | ||
during the commission of one or more of the offenses listed under | ||
Subsection (a) and if an offense is punishable as a Class A | ||
misdemeanor under Subsection (b), the offense is a state jail | ||
felony. | ||
SECTION 20. The heading to Section 71.022, Penal Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 71.022. COERCING, INDUCING, OR SOLICITING MEMBERSHIP | ||
IN A CRIMINAL STREET GANG OR FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. | ||
SECTION 21. Sections 71.022(a) and (a-1), Penal Code, are | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly | ||
causes, enables, encourages, recruits, or solicits another person | ||
to become a member of a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist | ||
organization which, as a condition of initiation, admission, | ||
membership, or continued membership, requires the commission of any | ||
conduct which constitutes an offense punishable as a Class A | ||
misdemeanor or a felony. | ||
(a-1) A person commits an offense if, with intent to coerce, | ||
induce, or solicit a child to actively participate in the | ||
activities of a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist | ||
organization, the person: | ||
(1) threatens the child or a member of the child's | ||
family with imminent bodily injury; or | ||
(2) causes bodily injury to the child or a member of | ||
the child's family. | ||
SECTION 22. Section 71.023, Penal Code, is amended to read | ||
as follows: | ||
Sec. 71.023. DIRECTING ACTIVITIES OF CRIMINAL STREET GANGS | ||
OR FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS. (a) A person commits an | ||
offense if the person, as part of the identifiable leadership of a | ||
criminal street gang or foreign terrorist organization, knowingly | ||
finances, directs, or supervises the commission of, or a conspiracy | ||
to commit, one or more of the following offenses by members of a | ||
criminal street gang or foreign terrorist organization: | ||
(1) a felony offense that is listed in Article | ||
42A.054(a), Code of Criminal Procedure; | ||
(2) a felony offense for which it is shown that a | ||
deadly weapon, as defined by Section 1.07, was used or exhibited | ||
during the commission of the offense or during immediate flight | ||
from the commission of the offense; or | ||
(3) an offense that is punishable under Section | ||
481.112(e) or (f), 481.1121(b)(4), 481.1123(d), (e), or (f), | ||
481.115(f), or 481.120(b)(6), Health and Safety Code. | ||
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the first | ||
degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of | ||
Criminal Justice for life or for any term of not more than 99 years | ||
or less than 25 years. | ||
SECTION 23. Chapter 125, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, | ||
as amended by this Act, applies only to an action commenced on or | ||
after the effective date of this Act. An action commenced before the | ||
effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed | ||
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is | ||
continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 24. Chapter 71, Penal Code, as amended 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 25. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1900 passed the Senate on | ||
April 12, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 2; and that | ||
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 25, 2023, by the | ||
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1900 passed the House, with | ||
amendments, on May 22, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 93, | ||
Nays 51, one present not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
Approved: | ||
______________________________ | ||
Date | ||
______________________________ | ||
Governor |