87R3168 JRR-F     By: Cole H.B. No. 818       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the prosecution and punishment of the criminal offense   of harassment; creating a criminal offense.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Sections 42.07(a) and (c), Penal Code, are   amended to read as follows:          (a)  A person commits an offense if, with intent to harass,   annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass another, the person:                (1)  initiates communication and in the course of the   communication makes a comment, request, suggestion, or proposal   that is obscene;                (2)  threatens, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm   the person receiving the threat, to inflict bodily injury on the   person or to commit a felony against the person, a member of the   person's family or household, or the person's property;                (3)  conveys, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm   the person receiving the report, a false report, which is known by   the conveyor to be false, that another person has suffered death or   serious bodily injury;                (4)  causes the telephone of another to ring repeatedly   or makes repeated telephone communications anonymously or in a   manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment,   embarrass, or offend another;                (5)  makes a telephone call and intentionally fails to   hang up or disengage the connection;                (6)  knowingly permits a telephone under the person's   control to be used by another to commit an offense under this   section; [or]                (7)  sends repeated electronic communications in a   manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment,   embarrass, or offend another; or                (8)  publishes on an Internet website, including a   social media platform, repeated electronic communications in a   manner reasonably likely to harass, abuse, or torment another   person.          (c)  An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor,   except that the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if:                (1)  the actor has previously been convicted under this   section; or                (2)  the offense was committed under Subsection (a)(7)   or (8) and:                      (A)  the offense was committed against a child   under 18 years of age with the intent that the child:                            (i)  commit suicide; or                            (ii)  engage in conduct causing serious   bodily injury to the child; or                      (B)  the actor has previously violated a temporary   restraining order or injunction issued under Chapter 129A, Civil   Practice and Remedies Code.          SECTION 2.  Section 37.0151(a), Education Code, is amended   to read as follows:          (a)  The principal of a public primary or secondary school,   or a person designated by the principal under Subsection (c), may   make a report to any school district police department, if   applicable, or the police department of the municipality in which   the school is located or, if the school is not in a municipality,   the sheriff of the county in which the school is located if, after   an investigation is completed, the principal has reasonable grounds   to believe that a student engaged in conduct that constitutes an   offense under Section 22.01 or 42.07(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code.          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, 2021.