By: Geren H.B. No. 1283       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the punishment for the criminal offense of tampering   with or fabricating physical evidence.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 37.09, Penal Code, is amended by   amending Subsections (c) and (c-1) and adding Subsection (c-2) to   read as follows:          (c)  An offense under Subsection (a) or Subsection (d)(1) is   a felony of the third degree, except that the offense is:                (1)  a felony of the second degree if [unless] the thing   altered, destroyed, or concealed is a human corpse; and                (2)  a Class A misdemeanor if the thing altered,   destroyed, or concealed could be used as evidence in the   investigation only of or an official proceeding related only to an   offense punishable as a misdemeanor[, in which case the offense is a   felony of the second degree].          (c-1)  An offense under Subsection (d)(2) is a Class A   misdemeanor.          (c-2) [(c-1)]  It is a defense to prosecution under   Subsection (a) or (d)(1) that the record, document, or thing was   visual material prohibited under Section 43.261 that was destroyed   as described by Subsection (f)(3) of that section.          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, 2025.