86(R) SB 38 - Enrolled version - Bill Text

	S.B.  No.  38

	AN ACT
	relating to the offense of hazing.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION  1.    Sections 37.151(5) and (6), Education Code, are
	amended to read as follows:
	(5)    "Organization" means a fraternity, sorority,
	association, corporation, order, society, corps, club, or student
	government, a band or musical group or an academic, athletic,
	cheerleading, or dance team, including any group or team that
	participates in National Collegiate Athletic Association
	competition, or a service, social, or similar group, whose members
	are primarily students.
	(6)    "Hazing" means any intentional, knowing, or
	reckless act, occurring on or off the campus of an educational
	institution, by one person alone or acting with others, directed
	against a student[, that endangers the mental or physical health or
	safety of a student] for the purpose of pledging, being initiated
	into, affiliating with, holding office in, or maintaining
	membership in an organization if the act:
	(A)    is[.  The term includes:
	[(A)]    any type of physical brutality, such as
	whipping, beating, striking, branding, electronic shocking,
	placing of a harmful substance on the body, or similar activity;
	(B)    involves  [any type of physical activity, such
	as] sleep deprivation, exposure to the elements, confinement in a
	small space, calisthenics, or other similar  activity that subjects
	the student to an unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely
	affects the mental or physical health or safety of the student;
	(C)    involves  [any activity involving]
	consumption of a food, liquid, alcoholic beverage, liquor, drug, or
	other substance, other than as described by Paragraph (E), that
	subjects the student to an unreasonable risk of harm or that
	adversely affects the mental or physical health or safety of the
	student;
	(D)    is [any activity that intimidates or
	threatens the student with ostracism, that subjects the student to
	extreme mental stress, shame, or humiliation, that adversely
	affects the mental health or dignity of the student or discourages
	the student from entering or remaining registered in an educational
	institution, or that may reasonably be expected to cause a student
	to leave the organization or the institution rather than submit to
	acts described in this subdivision; and
	[(E)]    any activity that induces, causes, or
	requires the student to perform a duty or task that involves a
	violation of the Penal Code; or
	(E)    involves coercing, as defined by Section
	1.07, Penal Code, the student to consume:
	(i)    a drug; or
	(ii)    an alcoholic beverage or liquor in an
	amount that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the
	student is intoxicated, as defined by Section 49.01, Penal Code.
	SECTION  2.    Section 37.155, Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec.  37.155.    IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION OR CIVIL LIABILITY
	AVAILABLE. (a)    In the prosecution of an offense under this
	subchapter, the court may grant immunity from prosecution for the
	offense to each person who is subpoenaed to testify for the
	prosecution and who does testify for the prosecution.
	(b)    Any person who voluntarily reports [reporting] a
	specific hazing incident involving a student in an educational
	institution to the dean of students or other appropriate official
	of the institution is immune from civil or criminal liability that
	might otherwise be incurred or imposed as a result of the reported
	hazing incident if the person:
	(1)    reports the incident before being contacted by the
	institution concerning the incident or otherwise being included in
	the institution's investigation of the incident; and
	(2)    as determined by the dean of students or other
	appropriate official of the institution designated by the
	institution, cooperates in good faith throughout any institutional
	process regarding the incident [report].
	(c)    Immunity under Subsection (b) extends to participation
	in any judicial proceeding resulting from the report.
	(d)    A person is not immune under Subsection (b) if the
	person:
	(1)    reports the person's own act of hazing; or
	(2)    reports an incident of hazing [reporting] in bad
	faith or with malice [is not protected by this section].
	SECTION  3.    Subchapter F, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 37.158 to read as follows:
	Sec.  37.158.    VENUE