S.B. No. 1649         AN ACT   relating to increasing the punishment for certain conduct   constituting the offense of criminal trespass.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 30.05(b), Penal Code, is amended by   adding Subdivision (12) to read as follows:                (12)  "Institution of higher education" has the meaning   assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code.          SECTION 2.  Section 30.05, Penal Code, is amended by   amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (d-1) and (d-2) to   read as follows:          (d)  An offense under this section is:                (1)  a Class B misdemeanor, except as provided by   Subdivisions (2) and (3);                (2)  a Class C misdemeanor, except as provided by   Subdivision (3), if the offense is committed:                      (A)  on agricultural land and within 100 feet of   the boundary of the land; or                      (B)  on residential land and within 100 feet of a   protected freshwater area; and                (3)  a Class A misdemeanor if:                      (A)  the offense is committed:                            (i)  in a habitation or a shelter center;                            (ii)  on a Superfund site; or                            (iii)  on or in a critical infrastructure   facility; [or]                      (B)  the offense is committed on or in property of   an institution of higher education and it is shown on the trial of   the offense that the person has previously been convicted of:                            (i)  an offense under this section relating   to entering or remaining on or in property of an institution of   higher education; or                            (ii)  an offense under Section 51.204(b)(1),   Education Code, relating to trespassing on the grounds of an   institution of higher education; or                      (C)  the person carries a deadly weapon during the   commission of the offense.          (d-1)  For the purposes of Subsection (d)(3)(B), a person has   previously been convicted of an offense described by that paragraph   if the person was adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea   of guilty or nolo contendere in return for a grant of deferred   adjudication community supervision, regardless of whether the   sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether the sentence   was probated and the person was subsequently discharged from   deferred adjudication community supervision.          (d-2)  At the punishment stage of a trial in which the   attorney representing the state seeks the increase in punishment   provided by Subsection (d)(3)(B), the defendant may raise the issue   as to whether, at the time of the instant offense or the previous   offense, the defendant was engaging in speech or expressive conduct   protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution   or Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution.  If the defendant   proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of the   evidence, the increase in punishment provided by Subsection   (d)(3)(B) does not apply.          SECTION 3.  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 occurred   before that date.          SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.             ______________________________ ______________________________      President of the Senate Speaker of the House                 I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1649 passed the Senate on   May 10, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 5; and that the   Senate concurred in House amendment on May 26, 2017, by the   following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 6.       ______________________________   Secretary of the Senate                I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1649 passed the House, with   amendment, on May 23, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 105,   Nays 40, three present not voting.       ______________________________   Chief Clerk of the House            Approved:     ______________________________                Date       ______________________________              Governor