S.B. No. 1354
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the prosecution of the offense of injury to a child,
  elderly individual, or disabled individual.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 22.04(d) and (i), Penal Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (d)  For purposes of an omission that causes a condition
  described by Subsection (a)(1), (2), or (3), the actor has assumed
  care, custody, or control if the actor [he] has by act, words, or
  course of conduct acted so as to cause a reasonable person to
  conclude that the actor [he] has accepted responsibility for
  protection, food, shelter, or [and] medical care for a child,
  elderly individual, or disabled individual. For purposes of an
  omission that causes a condition described by Subsection (a-1)(1),
  (2), or (3), the actor acting during the actor's capacity as owner,
  operator, or employee of a group home or facility described by
  Subsection (a-1) is considered to have accepted responsibility for
  protection, food, shelter, or [and] medical care for the child,
  elderly individual, or disabled individual who is a resident of the
  group home or facility.
         (i)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
  Subsection (b)(2) that before the offense the actor:
               (1)  notified in person the child, elderly individual,
  or disabled individual that the actor would no longer provide [any
  of] the applicable care described by Subsection (d), and notified
  in writing the parents or a person, other than the actor, acting in
  loco parentis to the child, elderly individual, or disabled
  individual that the actor would no longer provide [any of] the
  applicable care described by Subsection (d); or
               (2)  notified in writing the Department of Family and
  Protective Services that the actor would no longer provide [any of]
  the applicable care described by Subsection (d).
         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 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 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1354 passed the Senate on
  April 19, 2021, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 1.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1354 passed the House on
  May 18, 2021, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, one
  present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor