84R2850 ADM-D
 
  By: Dutton H.B. No. 348
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the punishment for certain conduct constituting the
  offense of official oppression and to the statute of limitation on
  prosecution of that conduct.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 12.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Art. 12.01.  FELONIES.  Except as provided in Article 12.03,
  felony indictments may be presented within these limits, and not
  afterward:
               (1)  no limitation:
                     (A)  murder and manslaughter;
                     (B)  sexual assault under Section 22.011(a)(2),
  Penal Code, or aggravated sexual assault under Section
  22.021(a)(1)(B), Penal Code;
                     (C)  sexual assault, if during the investigation
  of the offense biological matter is collected and subjected to
  forensic DNA testing and the testing results show that the matter
  does not match the victim or any other person whose identity is
  readily ascertained;
                     (D)  continuous sexual abuse of young child or
  children under Section 21.02, Penal Code;
                     (E)  indecency with a child under Section 21.11,
  Penal Code;
                     (F)  an offense involving leaving the scene of an
  accident under Section 550.021, Transportation Code, if the
  accident resulted in the death of a person;
                     (G)  trafficking of persons under Section
  20A.02(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code; [or]
                     (H)  continuous trafficking of persons under
  Section 20A.03, Penal Code; or
                     (I)  official oppression under Section 39.03,
  Penal Code, if the offense is punishable under Subsection (e)(2) of
  that section;
               (2)  ten years from the date of the commission of the
  offense:
                     (A)  theft of any estate, real, personal or mixed,
  by an executor, administrator, guardian or trustee, with intent to
  defraud any creditor, heir, legatee, ward, distributee,
  beneficiary or settlor of a trust interested in such estate;
                     (B)  theft by a public servant of government
  property over which he exercises control in his official capacity;
                     (C)  forgery or the uttering, using or passing of
  forged instruments;
                     (D)  injury to an elderly or disabled individual
  punishable as a felony of the first degree under Section 22.04,
  Penal Code;
                     (E)  sexual assault, except as provided by
  Subdivision (1);
                     (F)  arson;
                     (G)  trafficking of persons under Section
  20A.02(a)(1), (2), (3), or (4), Penal Code; or
                     (H)  compelling prostitution under Section
  43.05(a)(1), Penal Code;
               (3)  seven years from the date of the commission of the
  offense:
                     (A)  misapplication of fiduciary property or
  property of a financial institution;
                     (B)  securing execution of document by deception;
                     (C)  a felony violation under Chapter 162, Tax
  Code;
                     (D)  false statement to obtain property or credit
  under Section 32.32, Penal Code;
                     (E)  money laundering;
                     (F)  credit card or debit card abuse under Section
  32.31, Penal Code;
                     (G)  fraudulent use or possession of identifying
  information under Section 32.51, Penal Code;
                     (H)  Medicaid fraud under Section 35A.02, Penal
  Code; or
                     (I)  bigamy under Section 25.01, Penal Code,
  except as provided by Subdivision (6);
               (4)  five years from the date of the commission of the
  offense:
                     (A)  theft or robbery;
                     (B)  except as provided by Subdivision (5),
  kidnapping or burglary;
                     (C)  injury to an elderly or disabled individual
  that is not punishable as a felony of the first degree under Section
  22.04, Penal Code;
                     (D)  abandoning or endangering a child; or
                     (E)  insurance fraud;
               (5)  if the investigation of the offense shows that the
  victim is younger than 17 years of age at the time the offense is
  committed, 20 years from the 18th birthday of the victim of one of
  the following offenses:
                     (A)  sexual performance by a child under Section
  43.25, Penal Code;
                     (B)  aggravated kidnapping under Section
  20.04(a)(4), Penal Code, if the defendant committed the offense
  with the intent to violate or abuse the victim sexually; or
                     (C)  burglary under Section 30.02, Penal Code, if
  the offense is punishable under Subsection (d) of that section and
  the defendant committed the offense with the intent to commit an
  offense described by Subdivision (1)(B) or (D) of this article or
  Paragraph (B) of this subdivision;
               (6)  ten years from the 18th birthday of the victim of
  the offense:
                     (A)  trafficking of persons under Section
  20A.02(a)(5) or (6), Penal Code;
                     (B)  injury to a child under Section 22.04, Penal
  Code;
                     (C)  compelling prostitution under Section
  43.05(a)(2), Penal Code; or
                     (D)   bigamy under Section 25.01, Penal Code, if
  the investigation of the offense shows that the person, other than
  the legal spouse of the defendant, whom the defendant marries or
  purports to marry or with whom the defendant lives under the
  appearance of being married is younger than 18 years of age at the
  time the offense is committed; or
               (7)  three years from the date of the commission of the
  offense:  all other felonies.
         SECTION 2.  Section 39.03, Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
  follows:
         (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), an [An] offense
  under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
         (e)  An [, except that an] offense under this section is a
  felony of the third degree if:
               (1)  the public servant acted with the intent to impair
  the accuracy of data reported to the Texas Education Agency through
  the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS)
  described by Section 42.006, Education Code, under a law requiring
  that reporting; or
               (2)  the conduct constituting the offense consists of
  the intentional or knowing suppression of evidence favorable to a
  defendant and material to the defendant's guilt or punishment in a
  criminal trial.
         SECTION 3.  (a) The change in law made by this Act to Section
  39.03, Penal Code, 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 subsection, an
  offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any
  element of the offense occurred before that date.
         (b)  The change in law made by this Act to Article 12.01, Code
  of Criminal Procedure, does not apply to an offense if the
  prosecution of that offense becomes barred by limitation before the
  effective date of this Act. The prosecution of that offense remains
  barred as if this Act had not taken effect.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.