By: Huffman  S.B. No. 1232
         (In the Senate - Filed March 2, 2017; March 13, 2017, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
  April 10, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 10, 2017,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1232 By:  Whitmire
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the creation of the offense of bestiality.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 21.07(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (a)  A person commits an offense if the person [he] knowingly
  engages in any of the following acts in a public place or, if not in
  a public place, the person [he] is reckless about whether another is
  present who will be offended or alarmed by the person's [his]:
               (1)  act of sexual intercourse;
               (2)  act of deviate sexual intercourse; or
               (3)  act of sexual contact[; or
               [(4)     act involving contact between the person's mouth
  or genitals and the anus or genitals of an animal or fowl].
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 21, Penal Code, is amended by adding
  Section 21.09 to read as follows:
         Sec. 21.09.  BESTIALITY. (a)  A person commits an offense
  if the person knowingly:
               (1)  engages in an act involving contact between:
                     (A)  the person's mouth, anus, or genitals and the
  anus or genitals of an animal; or
                     (B)  the person's anus or genitals and the mouth
  of the animal;
               (2)  fondles or touches the anus or genitals of an
  animal, including touching through clothing;
               (3)  causes an animal to contact the seminal fluid of
  the person;
               (4)  inserts any part of a person's body or any object
  into the anus or genitals of an animal;
               (5)  possesses, sells, transfers, purchases, or
  otherwise obtains an animal with the intent that the animal be used
  for conduct described by Subdivision (1), (2), (3), or (4);
               (6)  organizes, promotes, conducts, or participates as
  an observer of conduct described by Subdivision (1), (2), (3), or
  (4);
               (7)  causes a person to engage or aids a person in
  engaging in conduct described by Subdivision (1), (2), (3), or (4);
               (8)  permits conduct described by Subdivision (1), (2),
  (3), or (4) to occur on any premises under the person's control;
               (9)  engages in conduct described by Subdivision (1),
  (2), (3), or (4) in the presence of a child younger than 18 years of
  age; or
               (10)  advertises, offers, or accepts the offer of an
  animal with the intent that the animal be used in this state for
  conduct described by Subdivision (1), (2), (3), or (4).
         (b)  An offense under this section is a state jail felony,
  unless the offense is committed under Subsection (a)(9) or results
  in serious bodily injury or death of the animal, in which event the
  offense is a felony of the third degree.
         (c)  It is an exception to the application of this section
  that the conduct engaged in by the actor is a generally accepted and
  otherwise lawful animal husbandry or veterinary practice.
         SECTION 3.  Article 42A.511, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Art. 42A.511.  COMMUNITY SUPERVISION FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES
  INVOLVING ANIMALS.  (a)  If a judge grants community supervision to
  a defendant convicted of an offense under Section 42.09, 42.091,
  42.092, or 42.10, Penal Code, the judge may require the defendant to
  attend a responsible pet owner course sponsored by a municipal
  animal shelter, as defined by Section 823.001, Health and Safety
  Code, that:
               (1)  receives federal, state, county, or municipal
  funds; and
               (2)  serves the county in which the court is located.
         (b)  If a judge grants community supervision to a defendant
  convicted of an offense under Section 21.09, Penal Code, the judge
  may:
               (1)  require the defendant to relinquish custody of any
  animals in the defendant's possession;
               (2)  prohibit the defendant from possessing or
  exercising control over any animals or residing in a household
  where animals are present; or
               (3)  require the defendant to participate in
  psychological counseling or other appropriate treatment program
  for a period to be determined by the court.
         SECTION 4.  Section 821.021(1), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
               (1)  "Cruelly treated" includes tortured, seriously
  overworked, unreasonably abandoned, unreasonably deprived of
  necessary food, care, or shelter, cruelly confined, [or] caused to
  fight with another animal, or subjected to conduct prohibited by
  Section 21.09, Penal Code.
         SECTION 5.  Section 821.023, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (b) to
  read as follows:
         (a-1)  A finding in a court of competent jurisdiction that a
  person is guilty of an offense under Section 21.09, Penal Code, is
  prima facie evidence at a hearing authorized by Section 821.022
  that any animal in the person's possession has been cruelly
  treated, regardless of whether the animal was subjected to conduct
  prohibited by Section 21.09, Penal Code.
         (b)  A statement of an owner made at a hearing provided for
  under this subchapter is not admissible in a trial of the owner for
  an offense under Section 21.09, 42.09, or 42.092, Penal Code.
         SECTION 6.  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 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 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
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