HBA-NMO H.B. 2119 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2119
By: Smith
Criminal Jurisprudence
4/5/99
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law provides that a person commits criminal trespass if the person
enters or remains on property or in a building of another without effective
consent and the person had notice that the entry was forbidden, or received
notice to depart but failed to do so.  

Prior to 1980, airport police in Texas used this law to remove passengers
from airliners who refused to honor rules and regulations about smoking,
luggage, seating, or other non-criminal matters.  In 1980, the Texas Court
of Criminal Appeals held in Williams v. State, 605 S.W. 2d 596 (Tex. Crim.
App. 1980) that the criminal trespass law only applies to real property or
buildings and not to chattel, such as boats, aircraft, or other vehicles.
As a result, airlines must use other methods which may be time consuming to
remove passengers for non-criminal violations of airline policy. 

H.B. 2119 amends the criminal trespass law to provide that a person commits
criminal trespass if the person enters or remains on property, including an
aircraft, of another without effective consent. 

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 30.05(a), Penal Code, to provide that a person
commits criminal trespass if the person enters or remains on property,
including an aircraft, of another without effective consent. 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.

SECTION 3.  Emergency clause.