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        |  | 
      
        |  | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED | 
      
        |  | AN ACT | 
      
        |  | relating to increasing the punishment for assault committed against | 
      
        |  | certain sports participants. | 
      
        |  | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | 
      
        |  | SECTION 1.  Section 22.01(c), Penal Code, is amended to read | 
      
        |  | as follows: | 
      
        |  | (c)  An offense under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) is a Class C | 
      
        |  | misdemeanor, except that the offense is[ : | 
      
        |  | [ (1)]  a Class A misdemeanor if the offense is | 
      
        |  | committed: | 
      
        |  | (1)  under Subsection (a)(3) against an elderly | 
      
        |  | individual or disabled individual, as those terms are defined by | 
      
        |  | Section 22.04; or | 
      
        |  | (2)  [ a Class B misdemeanor if the offense is  | 
      
        |  | committed] by any [a] person, other than [who is not] a sports | 
      
        |  | participant who is an athlete younger than 19 years of age, against | 
      
        |  | another [ a] person the actor knows is a sports participant either: | 
      
        |  | (A)  while the participant is performing duties or | 
      
        |  | responsibilities in the participant's capacity as a sports | 
      
        |  | participant; or | 
      
        |  | (B)  in retaliation for or on account of the | 
      
        |  | participant's performance of a duty or responsibility within the | 
      
        |  | participant's capacity as a sports participant. | 
      
        |  | 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, 2015. |