H.B. No. 872
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the prosecution of and punishment for the offense of
  tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 37.09, Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read
  as follows:
         (c)  An offense under Subsection (a) or Subsection (d)(1) is
  a felony of the third degree, unless the thing altered, destroyed,
  or concealed is a human corpse, in which case the offense is a
  felony of the second degree. An offense under Subsection (d)(2) is a
  Class A misdemeanor.
         (d)  A person commits an offense if the person:
               (1)  knowing that an offense has been committed,
  alters, destroys, or conceals any record, document, or thing with
  intent to impair its verity, legibility, or availability as
  evidence in any subsequent investigation of or official proceeding
  related to the offense; or
               (2)  observes a human corpse [remains] under
  circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that an
  offense had been committed, knows or reasonably should know that a
  law enforcement agency is not aware of the existence of or location
  of the corpse [remains], and fails to report the existence of and
  location of the corpse [remains] to a law enforcement agency.
         (e)  In this section, "human corpse" has the meaning assigned
  by Section 42.08.
         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 at the time 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 was
  committed before that date.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 872 was passed by the House on April
  26, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 141, Nays 0, 1 present, not
  voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 872 was passed by the Senate on May
  15, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
  APPROVED:  _____________________
                     Date          
   
            _____________________
                   Governor