HB 1345
AN ACT relating to the prosecution of the offense of sexual assault.
89th Regular Session
Jan 14, 2025 - Jun 2, 2025 • Session ended
Awaiting Committee Assignment
Bill filed, pending referral to House committee
Committee
Not yet assigned
Fiscal Note
Not available
What This Bill Does
Expands the legal definition of sexual assault in Texas by adding numerous specific scenarios where consent is not considered valid. The expanded definition includes situations involving physical force, threats, unconsciousness, mental incapacity, exploitation of professional relationships (such as by healthcare providers, clergy, coaches, or caregivers), and cases where a person is deliberately impaired without their knowledge. The new provisions aim to provide broader legal protections for sexual assault victims by recognizing a wider range of coercive and non-consensual circumstances.
Bill Text
relating to the prosecution of the offense of sexual assault. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 22.011(b), Penal Code, is amended to (b) A sexual assault under Subsection (a)(1) is without the consent of the other person if consent, as defined by Section (1) the actor compels the other person to submit or participate by the use of physical force, violence, or coercion; (2) the actor compels the other person to submit or participate by threatening to use force or violence against the other person or to cause harm to the other person, and the other person believes that the actor has the present ability to execute (3) the other person has not consented and the actor knows the other person is unconscious or physically unable to (4) the actor knows that as a result of mental disease or defect the other person is at the time of the sexual assault incapable either of appraising the nature of the act or of resisting (5) the other person has not consented and the actor knows the other person is unaware that the sexual assault is (6) the actor has intentionally impaired the other person's power to appraise or control the other person's conduct by administering any substance without the other person's knowledge; (7) the actor compels the other person to submit or participate by threatening to use force or violence against any person, and the other person believes that the actor has the ability (8) the actor is a public servant who coerces the other person to submit or participate; (9) the actor is a mental health services provider or a health care services provider who causes the other person, who is a patient or former patient of the actor, to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's emotional dependency on the actor; (10) the actor is a clergyman who causes the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman's professional character as spiritual adviser; (11) the actor is an employee of a facility where the other person is a resident, unless the employee and resident are formally or informally married to each other under Chapter 2, (12) the actor is a health care services provider who, in the course of performing an assisted reproduction procedure on the other person, uses human reproductive material from a donor knowing that the other person has not expressly consented to the use (13) the actor is a coach or tutor who causes the other person to submit or participate by using the actor's power or influence to exploit the other person's dependency on the actor; or (14) the actor is a caregiver hired to assist the other person with activities of daily life and causes the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's dependency 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 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
Bill Sponsors
Legislators who authored or co-sponsored this bill.
Bill History
Bill filed: AN ACT relating to the prosecution of the offense of sexual assault.
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