Bill Text: TX SB2115 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Relating to the criminal offense of fraudulent securing of document execution.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-21 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB2115 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-SB2115-Introduced.html

---

86R11841 TSS-F
By: West S.B. No. 2115

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the criminal offense of fraudulent securing of document
execution.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 32.46, Penal Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 32.46. FRAUDULENT SECURING OF DOCUMENT EXECUTION [OF
DOCUMENT BY DECEPTION].
SECTION 2. Sections 32.46(a) and (b), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person, with the
intent to defraud or harm any person[, he, by deception]:
(1) by deception causes another to sign or execute any
document affecting property or service or the pecuniary interest of
any person; [or]
(2) by deception causes or induces a public servant to
file or record any purported judgment or other document purporting
to memorialize or evidence an act, an order, a directive, or process
of:
(A) a purported court that is not expressly
created or established under the constitution or the laws of this
state or of the United States;
(B) a purported judicial entity that is not
expressly created or established under the constitution or laws of
this state or of the United States; or
(C) a purported judicial officer of a purported
court or purported judicial entity described by Paragraph (A) or
(B); or
(3) causes another person, without the effective
consent of that person, to sign or execute any document affecting
property or service or the pecuniary interest of any person.
(b) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) or (3) is a:
(1) Class C misdemeanor if the value of the property,
service, or pecuniary interest is less than $100;
(2) Class B misdemeanor if the value of the property,
service, or pecuniary interest is $100 or more but less than $750;
(3) Class A misdemeanor if the value of the property,
service, or pecuniary interest is $750 or more but less than $2,500;
(4) state jail felony if the value of the property,
service, or pecuniary interest is $2,500 or more but less than
$30,000;
(5) felony of the third degree if the value of the
property, service, or pecuniary interest is $30,000 or more but
less than $150,000;
(6) felony of the second degree if the value of the
property, service, or pecuniary interest is $150,000 or more but
less than $300,000; or
(7) felony of the first degree if the value of the
property, service, or pecuniary interest is $300,000 or more.
SECTION 3. Section 33.013(b), Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), each liable defendant
is, in addition to the defendant's [his] liability under Subsection
(a), jointly and severally liable for the damages recoverable by
the claimant under Section 33.012 with respect to a cause of action
if:
(1) the percentage of responsibility attributed to the
defendant with respect to a cause of action is greater than 50
percent; or
(2) the defendant, with the specific intent to do harm
to others, acted in concert with another person to engage in the
conduct described in the following provisions of the Penal Code and
in so doing proximately caused the damages legally recoverable by
the claimant:
(A) Section 19.02 (murder);
(B) Section 19.03 (capital murder);
(C) Section 20.04 (aggravated kidnapping);
(D) Section 22.02 (aggravated assault);
(E) Section 22.011 (sexual assault);
(F) Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual assault);
(G) Section 22.04 (injury to a child, elderly
individual, or disabled individual);
(H) Section 32.21 (forgery);
(I) Section 32.43 (commercial bribery);
(J) Section 32.45 (misapplication of fiduciary
property or property of financial institution);
(K) Section 32.46 (fraudulent securing of
document execution [of document by deception]);
(L) Section 32.47 (fraudulent destruction,
removal, or concealment of writing);
(M) conduct described in Chapter 31 the
punishment level for which is a felony of the third degree or
higher; or
(N) Section 21.02 (continuous sexual abuse of
young child or children).
SECTION 4. Section 41.008(c), Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) This section does not apply to a cause of action against
a defendant from whom a plaintiff seeks recovery of exemplary
damages based on conduct described as a felony in the following
sections of the Penal Code if, except for Sections 49.07 and 49.08,
the conduct was committed knowingly or intentionally:
(1) Section 19.02 (murder);
(2) Section 19.03 (capital murder);
(3) Section 20.04 (aggravated kidnapping);
(4) Section 22.02 (aggravated assault);
(5) Section 22.011 (sexual assault);
(6) Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual assault);
(7) Section 22.04 (injury to a child, elderly
individual, or disabled individual, but not if the conduct occurred
while providing health care as defined by Section 74.001 of this
code);
(8) Section 32.21 (forgery);
(9) Section 32.43 (commercial bribery);
(10) Section 32.45 (misapplication of fiduciary
property or property of financial institution);
(11) Section 32.46 (fraudulent securing of document
execution [of document by deception]);
(12) Section 32.47 (fraudulent destruction, removal,
or concealment of writing);
(13) Chapter 31 (theft) the punishment level for which
is a felony of the third degree or higher;
(14) Section 49.07 (intoxication assault);
(15) Section 49.08 (intoxication manslaughter);
(16) Section 21.02 (continuous sexual abuse of young
child or children); or
(17) Chapter 20A (trafficking of persons).
SECTION 5. Section 250.006(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A person may not be employed in a position the duties of
which involve direct contact with a consumer in a facility or may
not be employed by an individual employer before the fifth
anniversary of the date the person is convicted of:
(1) an offense under Section 22.01, Penal Code
(assault), that is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor or as a
felony;
(2) an offense under Section 30.02, Penal Code
(burglary);
(3) an offense under Chapter 31, Penal Code (theft),
that is punishable as a felony;
(4) an offense under Section 32.45, Penal Code
(misapplication of fiduciary property or property of financial
institution), that is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor or a
felony;
(5) an offense under Section 32.46, Penal Code
(fraudulent securing of document execution [of document by
deception]), that is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor or a
felony;
(6) an offense under Section 37.12, Penal Code (false
identification as peace officer; misrepresentation of property);
or
(7) an offense under Section 42.01(a)(7), (8), or (9),
Penal Code (disorderly conduct).
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 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 was
committed before that date.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.