HBA-RBT H.B. 1357 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1357 By: Crownover Criminal Jurisprudence 3/25/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, a person can be prosecuted for a state jail felony for writing hot checks which total in the aggregate over $1500. Many offenders write numerous hot checks for small amounts of money. It is difficult to prosecute these offenders because of the number of witnesses which must be called to testify regarding each check. H.B. 1357 makes passing 10 or more hot checks within a 30-day period a state jail felony. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 31.03(e), Penal Code, to provide that it is a state jail felony, regardless of the value of the property, to obtain property by issuing or passing ten or more checks or similar sight orders within a 30-day period, in a manner described by Section 31.06, Penal Code (Presumption for Theft by Check). Makes conforming changes. SECTION 2. Amends Section 31.04(e), Penal Code, to provide that it is a state jail felony, regardless of the value of the property, to obtain property by issuing or passing ten or more checks or similar sight orders within a 30-day period, in a manner described by Section 31.06, Penal Code (Presumption for Theft by Check). Makes conforming changes. SECTION 3. Amends Section 31.09, Penal Code, to provide that a defendant is subject to prosecution under Sections 31.03 or 31.04, Penal Code, for passing 10 or more checks or sight orders within a 30-day period and may also be prosecuted for a higher grade offense if the aggregation of amounts warrants such a prosecution. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 4. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 5. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 6. Emergency clause.