Bill Text: TX HB1482 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to the offense of hazing.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-05 - Considered in Calendars [HB1482 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB1482-Comm_Sub.html
86R19711 KJE-D | |||
By: Lozano | H.B. No. 1482 | ||
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1482: | |||
By: Pacheco | C.S.H.B. No. 1482 |
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relating to the offense of hazing. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 37.151(6), Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(6) "Hazing" means any intentional, knowing, or | ||
reckless act, occurring on or off the campus of an educational | ||
institution, by one person alone or acting with others, directed | ||
against a student[ |
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into, affiliating with, holding office in, or maintaining | ||
membership in an organization if the act: | ||
(A) is[ |
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[ |
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whipping, beating, striking, branding, electronic shocking, | ||
placing of a harmful substance on the body, or similar activity; | ||
(B) involves [ |
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small space, calisthenics, or other similar activity that subjects | ||
the student to an unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely | ||
affects the mental or physical health or safety of the student; | ||
(C) involves [ |
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consumption of a food, liquid, alcoholic beverage, liquor, drug, or | ||
other substance, other than as described by Paragraph (F), that | ||
subjects the student to an unreasonable risk of harm or that | ||
adversely affects the mental or physical health or safety of the | ||
student; | ||
(D) is any activity that: | ||
(i) a reasonable person would believe | ||
intimidates or threatens the student with ostracism, [ |
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subjects the student to extreme mental stress, shame, or | ||
humiliation, [ |
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of the student, or discourages the student from entering or | ||
remaining registered in an educational institution;[ |
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(ii) [ |
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cause the [ |
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rather than submit to the activity [ |
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(E) is any activity that induces, causes, or | ||
requires the student to perform a duty or task that involves a | ||
violation of the Penal Code; or | ||
(F) involves coercing, as defined by Section | ||
1.07, Penal Code, the student to consume an alcoholic beverage, | ||
liquor, or drug. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 37.152(a), Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(a) A person commits an offense if the person: | ||
(1) engages in hazing; | ||
(2) solicits, encourages, directs, aids, or attempts | ||
to aid another in engaging in hazing; | ||
(3) recklessly permits hazing to occur; [ |
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(4) has firsthand knowledge of the planning of a | ||
specific hazing incident involving a student in an educational | ||
institution, or has firsthand knowledge that a specific hazing | ||
incident has occurred, and knowingly fails to report that knowledge | ||
in writing to the dean of students or other appropriate official of | ||
the institution; or | ||
(5) with the intent to prevent another person from | ||
documenting or reporting a hazing incident: | ||
(A) disables or takes the other person's | ||
telephone or other electronic communication device; | ||
(B) requires the other person to relinquish | ||
possession of the other person's telephone or other electronic | ||
communication device; or | ||
(C) denies the other person access to a telephone | ||
or other electronic communication device. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 37.155, Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 37.155. IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION OR CIVIL LIABILITY | ||
AVAILABLE. (a) In the prosecution of an offense under this | ||
subchapter, the court may grant immunity from prosecution for the | ||
offense to each person who is subpoenaed to testify for the | ||
prosecution and who does testify for the prosecution. | ||
(b) Any person who voluntarily reports [ |
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specific hazing incident involving a student in an educational | ||
institution to the dean of students or other appropriate official | ||
of the institution is immune from civil or criminal liability that | ||
might otherwise be incurred or imposed as a result of the reported | ||
hazing incident if the person: | ||
(1) reports the incident before being contacted by the | ||
institution concerning the incident or otherwise being included in | ||
the institution's investigation of the incident; and | ||
(2) as determined by the dean of students or other | ||
appropriate official of the institution designated by the | ||
institution, cooperates in good faith throughout any institutional | ||
process regarding the incident [ |
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(c) Immunity under Subsection (b) extends to participation | ||
in any judicial proceeding resulting from the report. | ||
(d) A person is not immune under Subsection (b) if the | ||
person: | ||
(1) reports the person's own act of hazing; or | ||
(2) reports an incident of hazing [ |
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faith or with malice [ |
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SECTION 4. Subchapter F, Chapter 37, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 37.158 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 37.158. VENUE. (a) In this section, "prosecuting | ||
attorney" means a county attorney, district attorney, or criminal | ||
district attorney. | ||
(b) An offense under this subchapter may be prosecuted: | ||
(1) in any county in which the offense may be | ||
prosecuted under other law; or | ||
(2) if the consent required by Subsection (c) is | ||
provided, in a county, other than a county described by Subdivision | ||
(1), in which is located the educational institution campus at | ||
which a victim of the offense is enrolled. | ||
(c) An offense under this subchapter may be prosecuted in a | ||
county described by Subsection (b)(2) only with the written consent | ||
of a prosecuting attorney of a county described by Subsection | ||
(b)(1) who has authority to prosecute an offense under this | ||
subchapter. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 51.936, Education Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (c-1) and (c-2) to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(c) Not later than the 14th day before the first class day of | ||
each fall or spring semester, each [ |
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institution shall distribute to each student enrolled at the | ||
institution [ |
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(1) a summary of the provisions of Subchapter F, | ||
Chapter 37; and | ||
(2) a copy of, or an electronic link to a copy of, the | ||
report required under Subsection (c-1) [ |
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(c-1) Each postsecondary educational institution shall | ||
develop and post in a prominent location on the institution's | ||
Internet website a report on hazing committed on or off campus by an | ||
organization registered with or recognized by the institution. The | ||
report: | ||
(1) must include information regarding each | ||
disciplinary action taken by the institution against an | ||
organization for hazing, and each conviction of hazing under | ||
Section 37.153 by an organization, during the three years preceding | ||
the date on which the report is issued or updated, including: | ||
(A) the name of the organization disciplined or | ||
convicted; | ||
(B) the date on which the incident occurred or | ||
the citation was issued, if applicable; | ||
(C) the date on which the institution's | ||
investigation into the incident, if any, was initiated; | ||
(D) a general description of: | ||
(i) the incident; | ||
(ii) the violations of the institution's | ||
code of conduct or the criminal charges, as applicable; | ||
(iii) the findings of the institution or | ||
court; and | ||
(iv) any sanctions imposed by the | ||
institution, or any fines imposed by the court, on the | ||
organization; and | ||
(E) the date on which the institution's | ||
disciplinary process was resolved or on which the conviction became | ||
final; | ||
(2) must be updated to include information regarding | ||
each disciplinary process or conviction not later than the 30th day | ||
after the date on which the disciplinary process is resolved or the | ||
conviction becomes final, as applicable; and | ||
(3) may not include personally identifiable student | ||
information and must comply with the Family Educational Rights and | ||
Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g). | ||
(c-2) Each postsecondary educational institution shall | ||
provide to each student who attends the institution's student | ||
orientation a notice regarding the nature and availability of the | ||
report required under Subsection (c-1), including the report's | ||
Internet website address. | ||
SECTION 6. 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 when 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 was | ||
committed before that date. | ||
SECTION 7. Section 37.155, Education Code, as amended by | ||
this Act, applies only to a civil cause of action that accrues on or | ||
after the effective date of this Act. An action that accrued before | ||
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at | ||
the time the action accrued, and that law is continued in effect for | ||
that purpose. | ||
SECTION 8. Section 51.936(c), Education Code, as amended by | ||
this Act, and Section 51.936(c-2), Education Code, as added by this | ||
Act, apply beginning with the 2020 spring semester. | ||
SECTION 9. Not later than January 1, 2020, each | ||
postsecondary educational institution shall develop and post on the | ||
institution's Internet website the report required under Section | ||
51.936(c-1), Education Code, as added by this Act. | ||
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |