TEXAS LAWS: § 42.055. FUNERAL SERVICE DISRUPTIONS

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1, Section 42.055(b) Penal Code is amended to read as follows:

(b) A person commits an offense if, during the period beginning THREE HOURS (formerly 1 hr) before the service begins and ending THREE HOURS (formerly one hour) after the service is completed, the person engages in picketing within 1,000 feet of a facility or cemetery used for a funeral service.

This has an effective date of 09/01/2011.

 

§ 42.055. FUNERAL SERVICE DISRUPTIONS.

(a) In this section:

(1) "Facility" means a building at which any portion of a funeral service takes place, including a funeral parlor, mortuary, private home, or established place of worship.

(2) "Funeral service" means a ceremony, procession, or memorial service, including a wake or viewing, held in connection with the burial or cremation of the dead.

(3) "Picketing" means:

(A) standing, sitting, or repeated walking, riding, driving, or other similar action by a person displaying or carrying a banner, placard, or sign;

(B) engaging in loud singing, chanting, whistling, or yelling, with or without noise amplification through a device such as a bullhorn or microphone; or

(C) blocking access to a facility or cemetery being used for a funeral service.

(b) A person commits an offense if, during the period beginning one hour before the service begins and ending one hour after the service is completed, the person engages in picketing within 1,000 feet of a facility or cemetery being used for a funeral service.

(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

 

Added by Acts 2006, 79th Leg., 3rd C.S., Ch. 2, Sec. 1, eff. May 19, 2006.

Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 256, Sec. 1, eff. June 4, 2007.