S.B. No. 1649
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to increasing the punishment for certain conduct
  constituting the offense of criminal trespass.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 30.05(b), Penal Code, is amended by
  adding Subdivision (12) to read as follows:
               (12)  "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code.
         SECTION 2.  Section 30.05, Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (d-1) and (d-2) to
  read as follows:
         (d)  An offense under this section is:
               (1)  a Class B misdemeanor, except as provided by
  Subdivisions (2) and (3);
               (2)  a Class C misdemeanor, except as provided by
  Subdivision (3), if the offense is committed:
                     (A)  on agricultural land and within 100 feet of
  the boundary of the land; or
                     (B)  on residential land and within 100 feet of a
  protected freshwater area; and
               (3)  a Class A misdemeanor if:
                     (A)  the offense is committed:
                           (i)  in a habitation or a shelter center;
                           (ii)  on a Superfund site; or
                           (iii)  on or in a critical infrastructure
  facility; [or]
                     (B)  the offense is committed on or in property of
  an institution of higher education and it is shown on the trial of
  the offense that the person has previously been convicted of:
                           (i)  an offense under this section relating
  to entering or remaining on or in property of an institution of
  higher education; or
                           (ii)  an offense under Section 51.204(b)(1),
  Education Code, relating to trespassing on the grounds of an
  institution of higher education; or
                     (C)  the person carries a deadly weapon during the
  commission of the offense.
         (d-1)  For the purposes of Subsection (d)(3)(B), a person has
  previously been convicted of an offense described by that paragraph
  if the person was adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea
  of guilty or nolo contendere in return for a grant of deferred
  adjudication community supervision, regardless of whether the
  sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether the sentence
  was probated and the person was subsequently discharged from
  deferred adjudication community supervision.
         (d-2)  At the punishment stage of a trial in which the
  attorney representing the state seeks the increase in punishment
  provided by Subsection (d)(3)(B), the defendant may raise the issue
  as to whether, at the time of the instant offense or the previous
  offense, the defendant was engaging in speech or expressive conduct
  protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
  or Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution.  If the defendant
  proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of the
  evidence, the increase in punishment provided by Subsection
  (d)(3)(B) does not apply.
         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
  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 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1649 passed the Senate on
  May 10, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 5; and that the
  Senate concurred in House amendment on May 26, 2017, by the
  following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 6.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1649 passed the House, with
  amendment, on May 23, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 105,
  Nays 40, three present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor