RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (KVEO) — Legislation has been introduced into the Texas Legislature to punish any students who assault referees during school-sanctioned events.
Senator Eddie Lucio (TX-27) introduced Senate Bill 619 in the Texas Legislature on Monday.
The full name of the act is “relating to prohibiting a student from participating in future extracurricular activities for certain conduct involving the assault of an extracurricular activity official.”
If passed, the act will prohibit any student found to have assaulted a referee at a UIL event to be forever prohibited from participating in that event.
The inspiration for this act stems from a December incident where an Edinburg High School football player assaulted a referee during a high school football game.
The football player involved in the incident, Emmanuel Duron, was indefinitely suspended from UIL events by the sanctioning body. Additionally, Edinburg High School was given two-year probation on UIL events.
This act will take effect on September 1, 2021, if it receives a two-thirds vote in the Texas Senate chamber.
