bill making burglary of a vehicle a state jail felony

The text as introduced · 570 words

89R545 JDK-D

By: Tepper
H.B. No. 548

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of

burglary of a vehicle and to grants of community supervision to

persons who commit that offense.

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

SECTION 1. Section 30.04(d), Penal Code, is amended to read

as follows:

(d) An offense under this section is a state jail felony

[ Class A misdemeanor ], except that:

(1) the offense is a state jail felony [ Class A

misdemeanor ] with a minimum term of confinement of one year [ six

months ] if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the

defendant has been previously convicted of an offense under this

section;

(2) the offense is a felony of the third degree [ state

jail felony ] if:

(A) it is shown on the trial of the offense that

the defendant has been previously convicted two or more times of an

offense under this section; or

(B) the vehicle or part of the vehicle broken

into or entered is a rail car; and

(3) the offense is a felony of the second [ third ]

degree if:

(A) the vehicle broken into or entered is owned

or operated by a wholesale distributor of prescription drugs and

the actor breaks into or enters that vehicle with the intent to

commit theft of a controlled substance; or

(B) it is shown on the trial of the offense that

the actor committed the offense in the course of committing an

offense under Section 20.05(a)(2).

SECTION 2. Article 42A.304(b), Code of Criminal Procedure,

is amended to read as follows:

(b) The amount of community service work ordered by the

judge may not exceed:

(1) 1,000 hours for an offense classified as a first

degree felony;

(2) 800 hours for an offense classified as a second

degree felony;

(3) 600 hours for:

(A) an offense classified as a third degree

felony; or

(B) an offense under Section 30.04, Penal Code,

classified as a state jail felony [ Class A misdemeanor ];

(4) 400 hours for an offense classified as a state jail

felony , other than an offense described by Subdivision (3)(B) ;

(5) 200 hours for:

(A) an offense classified as a Class A

misdemeanor[ , other than an offense described by Subdivision

(3)(B) ]; or

(B) a misdemeanor for which the maximum

permissible confinement, if any, exceeds six months or the maximum

permissible fine, if any, exceeds $4,000; and

(6) 100 hours for:

(A) an offense classified as a Class B

misdemeanor; or

(B) a misdemeanor for which the maximum

permissible confinement, if any, does not exceed six months and the

maximum permissible fine, if any, does not exceed $4,000.

SECTION 3. Article 42A.057, Code of Criminal Procedure, is

repealed.

SECTION 4. 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.