H.B. No. 2240
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to creating the offense of continuous violence against the
  family.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 25, Penal Code, is amended by adding
  Section 25.11 to read as follows:
         Sec. 25.11.  CONTINUOUS VIOLENCE AGAINST THE FAMILY. (a)  A
  person commits an offense if, during a period that is 12 months or
  less in duration, the person two or more times engages in conduct
  that constitutes an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1) against
  another person or persons whose relationship to or association with
  the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or
  71.005, Family Code.
         (b)  If the jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are
  not required to agree unanimously on the specific conduct in which
  the defendant engaged that constituted an offense under Section
  22.01(a)(1) against the person or persons described by Subsection
  (a) or the exact date when that conduct occurred. The jury must
  agree unanimously that the defendant, during a period that is 12
  months or less in duration, two or more times engaged in conduct
  that constituted an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1) against the
  person or persons described by Subsection (a).
         (c)  A defendant may not be convicted in the same criminal
  action of another offense the victim of which is an alleged victim
  of the offense under Subsection (a) and an element of which is any
  conduct that is alleged as an element of the offense under
  Subsection (a) unless the other offense:
               (1)  is charged in the alternative;
               (2)  occurred outside the period in which the offense
  alleged under Subsection (a) was committed; or
               (3)  is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser
  included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (a).
         (d)  A defendant may not be charged with more than one count
  under Subsection (a) if all of the specific conduct that is alleged
  to have been engaged in is alleged to have been committed against a
  single victim or members of the same household, as defined by
  Section 71.005, Family Code.
         (e)  An offense under this section is a felony of the third
  degree.
         SECTION 2.  Section 22.01(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (b)  An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A
  misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree
  if the offense is committed against:
               (1)  a person the actor knows is a public servant while
  the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty, or in
  retaliation or on account of an exercise of official power or
  performance of an official duty as a public servant;
               (2)  a person whose relationship to or association with
  the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or
  71.005, Family Code, if it is shown on the trial of the offense that
  the defendant has been previously convicted of an offense under
  this chapter, Chapter 19, or Section 20.03, 20.04, [or] 21.11, or
  25.11 against a person whose relationship to or association with
  the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or
  71.005, Family Code;
               (3)  a person who contracts with government to perform
  a service in a facility as defined by Section 1.07(a)(14), Penal
  Code, or Section 51.02(13) or (14), Family Code, or an employee of
  that person:
                     (A)  while the person or employee is engaged in
  performing a service within the scope of the contract, if the actor
  knows the person or employee is authorized by government to provide
  the service;  or
                     (B)  in retaliation for or on account of the
  person's or employee's performance of a service within the scope of
  the contract;
               (4)  a person the actor knows is a security officer
  while the officer is performing a duty as a security officer; or
               (5)  a person the actor knows is emergency services
  personnel while the person is providing emergency services.
         SECTION 3.  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
  covered by the law in effect when 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 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2240 was passed by the House on May 7,
  2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, 2 present, not
  voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
  H.B. No. 2240 on May 29, 2009, and requested the appointment of a
  conference committee to consider the differences between the two
  houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
  on H.B. No. 2240 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 142,
  Nays 0, 1 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2240 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 26, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
  committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
  that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
  2240 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor