By Bernsen                                             S.B. No. 904
         77R5347 GWK-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the prosecution and punishment of the offense of making
 1-3     a false report to a peace officer or law enforcement employee.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Section 37.08, Penal Code, is amended to read as
 1-6     follows:
 1-7           Sec. 37.08.  FALSE REPORT TO PEACE OFFICER OR LAW ENFORCEMENT
 1-8     EMPLOYEE. (a)  A person commits an offense if, with intent to
 1-9     deceive, he knowingly makes a false statement that is material to
1-10     the [a] criminal investigation of a felony and makes the statement
1-11     to:
1-12                 (1)  a peace officer conducting the investigation; or
1-13                 (2)  any employee of a law enforcement agency that is
1-14     authorized by the agency to conduct the investigation and that the
1-15     actor knows is conducting the investigation.
1-16           (b)  A person commits an offense if, with intent to deceive,
1-17     he knowingly makes a false statement that is material to the
1-18     criminal investigation of a misdemeanor and makes the statement to:
1-19                 (1)  a peace officer conducting the investigation; or
1-20                 (2)  any employee of a law enforcement agency that is
1-21     authorized by the agency to conduct the investigation and that the
1-22     actor knows is conducting the investigation.
1-23           (c)  In this section, "law enforcement agency" has the
1-24     meaning assigned by Article 59.01, Code of Criminal Procedure.
 2-1           (d) [(c)]  An offense under Subsection (a)  is a state jail
 2-2     felony.  An offense under Subsection (b) [this section][] is a Class
 2-3     B misdemeanor.
 2-4           SECTION 2. (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
 2-5     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
 2-6     Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
 2-7     the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
 2-8     before the effective date.
 2-9           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
2-10     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
2-11     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-12           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.