HBA-NMO H.B. 3648 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3648 By: Yarbrough Criminal Jurisprudence 3/31/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law provides that the criminal penalty for evading arrest or detention is a Class B misdemeanor unless: the actor uses a vehicle in flight; the actor uses a vehicle in flight and has been previously convicted for evading arrest or detention; serious injury results directly from the attempt to apprehend the actor; or death results directly from the attempt to apprehend the actor; in which cases the offense is punishable by a Class A misdemeanor, a state jail felony, a third-degree felony, or a first-degree felony, respectively. Increasing the penalties associated with flight by vehicle may decrease the frequency of this crime. H.B. 3648 increases the penalty for using a vehicle in evading arrest or detention to a state jail felony and progressively increases the other three associated felony offenses. 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 38.04(b), Penal Code, to provide that the Class B misdemeanor offense of evading arrest or detention is increased to: (1) a state jail felony, rather than a Class A misdemeanor, if the actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in flight and the actor has not been previously convicted under this section; (2) a felony of the third degree, rather than a state jail felony, if the actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in flight and the actor has been previously convicted under this section; (3) a felony of the second degree, rather than third degree, if another suffers serious injury as a direct result of an attempt by the officer from whom the actor is fleeing to apprehend the actor while the actor is in flight; (4) or a felony of the first degree, rather than second degree, if another suffers death as a direct result of an attempt by the officer from whom the actor is fleeing to apprehend the actor while the actor is in flight. SECTION 2. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.