HBA-MSH H.B. 3108 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3108 By: Hardcastle Public Education 3/26/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, a person commits an offense by intentionally disrupting the conduct of classes or other school activities. Because the law is phrased in the plural, a person must be found to have disrupted more than one class or school activity in order to be convicted. Many incidents occur that disrupt only one class or activity, especially in the case of activities before and after school that take place when few others are in the school. Also under current law, it is an offense to prevent a student from attending a class or school activity, but not to prevent or hinder entering or exiting the school before or after classes begin. House Bill 3108 makes it an offense to disrupt a class or school activity as well as to prevent or hinder entering or exiting a school and enhances penalties. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 3108 amends the Education Code to provide that a person commits an offense if the person intentionally disrupts the conduct of a single class or school activity rather than multiple classes or activities. The bill provides that "school activity" includes an activity held on school property before or after school. The bill also provides that it is an offense to prevent or hinder entrance to or exit from school property during the period beginning one hour before commencement of classes for the school day and ending one hour after conclusion of classes for the school day. If a person convicted of an offense under these provisions has previously been convicted for that offense, the bill provides that the offense is a Class B misdemeanor. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.