bill creating continuous driving while intoxicated

The text as introduced · 674 words

89R11224 CJD-F

By: Kitzman
H.B. No. 5379

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to increasing the punishment for certain intoxication

offenses and creating the criminal offense of continuous driving

while intoxicated.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 49.045(b), Penal Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(b) Except as provided by Section 49.09, an [ An ] offense

under this section is a state jail felony.

SECTION 2. Section 49.09, Penal Code, is amended by

amending Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) and adding Subsection (b-5) to

read as follows:

(b-1) An offense under Section 49.07 is:

(1) a felony of the second degree if it is shown on the

trial of the offense that the person :

(A) caused serious bodily injury to a firefighter

or emergency medical services personnel while in the actual

discharge of an official duty; or

(B) has previously been convicted of an offense

under Section 49.04, 49.045, 49.05, 49.06, 49.061, 49.065, 49.07,

or 49.08; or

(2) a felony of the first degree if it is shown on the

trial of the offense that the person caused serious bodily injury to

a peace officer or judge while the officer or judge was in the

actual discharge of an official duty.

(b-2) An offense under Section 49.08 is a felony of the

first degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the

person :

(1) caused the death of a person described by

Subsection (b-1) ; or

(2) has previously been convicted of an offense under

Section 49.04, 49.045, 49.05, 49.06, 49.061, 49.065, 49.07, or

49.08 .

(b-5) An offense under Section 49.045 is a felony of the

second degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the

person has previously been convicted of an offense under Section

49.04, 49.045, 49.05, 49.06, 49.061, 49.065, 49.07, or 49.08.

SECTION 3. Chapter 49, Penal Code, is amended by adding

Section 49.095 to read as follows:

Sec. 49.095. CONTINUOUS DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED. (a) A

person commits an offense if, during a period that is 12 months or

less in duration, the person engages two or more times in conduct

that constitutes an offense under Section 49.04.

(b) If a jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are

not required to agree unanimously on which specific conduct engaged

in by the defendant constituted an offense under Section 49.04, the

exact date on which that conduct occurred, or the county in which

each instance of the conduct occurred. The jury must agree

unanimously that the defendant, during a period that is 12 months or

less in duration, engaged two or more times in conduct that

constitutes an offense under Section 49.04.

(c) The defendant may not be convicted in the same criminal

action of another offense an element of which is any conduct that is

alleged as an element of the offense under Subsection (a) unless the

other offense:

(1) is charged in the alternative;

(2) occurred outside the period in which the offense

alleged under Subsection (a) was committed; or

(3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser

included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (a).

(d) A defendant may not be charged with more than one count

under Subsection (a) for conduct occurring during the same period

described by Subsection (a).

(e) An offense under this section is a felony of the third

degree.

SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.