88R1679 MEW-F     By: Meyer H.B. No. 2143       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the punishment for possession of child pornography;   increasing criminal penalties.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 43.26, Penal Code, is amended by   amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as   follows:          (d)  An offense under Subsection (a) is:                (1)  a felony of the third degree if the person   possesses visual material that contains fewer than 100 visual   depictions of a child as described by Subsection (a)(1);                (2)  [, except that the offense is:                [(1)] a felony of the second degree if [it is shown on   the trial of the offense that] the person possesses visual material   that contains 100 or more visual depictions of a child as described   by Subsection (a)(1) but fewer than 500 such depictions [has been   previously convicted one time of an offense under that subsection];                (3)  [and                [(2)] a felony of the first degree if [it is shown on the   trial of the offense that] the person possesses visual material   that contains 500 or more visual depictions of a child as described   by Subsection (a)(1); or                (4)  a felony of the first degree punishable by   imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life   or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 25 years if it   is shown on the trial of the offense that, at the time of the   offense, the person was:                      (A)  an employee at a child-care facility or a   residential child-care facility, as those terms are defined by   Section 42.002, Human Resources Code;                      (B)  an employee at a residential treatment   facility established under Section 221.056, Human Resources Code;                      (C)  an employee at a shelter or facility that   serves youth and that receives state funds; or                      (D)  receiving state funds for the care of a child   depicted by the visual material [has been previously convicted two   or more times of an offense under that subsection].          (d-1)  If it is shown on the trial of an offense under   Subsection (a) that the visual material depicted a child younger   than 10 years of age at the time the image of the child was made or   that the defendant has been previously convicted of an offense   under that subsection:                (1)  an offense described for purposes of punishment by   Subsection (d)(1) or (2) is increased to the next higher category of   offense; or                (2)  the minimum term of confinement for an offense   described for purposes of punishment by Subsection (d)(3) is   increased to 15 years.          SECTION 2.  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 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.