H.B. No. 683

	AN ACT
	relating to the prosecution of the offense of possession or use of
	law enforcement identification, insignia, or vehicles in a
	municipality and the clarification of the offenses of false
	identification as a peace officer and misrepresentation of
	property.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  The heading to Section 341.904, Local Government
	Code, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 341.904.  POSSESSION OR USE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
	IDENTIFICATION, INSIGNIA, OR VEHICLE IN A [POPULOUS] MUNICIPALITY.
	SECTION 2.  Section 341.904(b), Local Government Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(b)  A [In a municipality with a population of 1.18 million
	or more located primarily in a county with a population of 2 million
	or more, a] person commits an offense if in a municipality the
	person intentionally or knowingly:
	(1)  uses, possesses, or wears:
	(A)  a police identification item of the municipal
	police department;
	(B)  an item bearing the insignia or design
	prescribed by the police chief of the municipality for officers and
	employees of the municipal police department to use while engaged
	in official activities; or
	(C)  within the municipal police department's
	jurisdiction, an item that is deceptively similar to a police
	identification item of the department;
	(2)  uses, within the municipal police department's
	jurisdiction, the name of the department in connection with an
	object to create the appearance that the object belongs to or is
	used by the department; or
	(3)  uses, possesses, or operates, within the municipal
	police department's jurisdiction, a marked patrol vehicle that is
	deceptively similar to a department patrol vehicle.
	SECTION 3.  Section 37.12, Penal Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding Subsections (b-1)
	and (c-1) to read as follows:
	(a)  A person commits an offense if:
	(1)  the person makes, provides to another person, or
	possesses a card, document, badge, insignia, shoulder emblem, or
	other item, including a vehicle, bearing an insignia of a law
	enforcement agency that identifies a person as a peace officer or a
	reserve law enforcement officer; and
	(2)  the person who makes, provides, or possesses the
	item bearing the insignia knows that the person so identified by the
	item is not commissioned as a peace officer or reserve law
	enforcement officer as indicated on the item.
	(b)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that:
	(1)  the card, document, badge, insignia, shoulder
	emblem, or other item bearing an insignia of a law enforcement
	agency clearly identifies the person as an honorary or junior peace
	officer or reserve law enforcement officer, or as a member of a
	junior posse; or
	(2)  the person identified as a peace officer or
	reserve law enforcement officer by the item bearing the insignia
	was commissioned in that capacity when the item was made.
	(b-1)  It is an exception to the application of this section
	that [; or
	[(3)]  the item was used or intended for use
	exclusively for decorative purposes or in an artistic or dramatic
	presentation.
	(c-1)  For purposes of this section, an item bearing an
	insignia of a law enforcement agency includes an item that contains
	the word "police," "sheriff," "constable," or "trooper."
	(d)  A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
	or knowingly misrepresents an object, including a vehicle, as
	property belonging to a law enforcement agency.  For purposes of
	this subsection, intentionally or knowingly misrepresenting an
	object as property belonging to a law enforcement agency includes
	intentionally or knowingly displaying an item bearing an insignia
	of a law enforcement agency in a manner that would lead a reasonable
	person to interpret the item as property belonging to a law
	enforcement agency.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 683 was passed by the House on May 2,
	2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 134, Nays 11, 1 present, not
	voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 683 was passed by the Senate on May
	24, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 1.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED:  _____________________
	Date
	_____________________
	Governor