| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the authority of certain counties to restrict sex |
|
|
offenders from child safety zones in certain portions of the |
|
|
unincorporated area of the county; creating a criminal offense. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 351, Local Government |
|
|
Code, is amended by adding Section 351.905 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 351.905. LIMITATIONS ON REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS IN |
|
|
UNINCORPORATED AREA OF CERTAIN COUNTIES. (a) In this section: |
|
|
(1) "Child safety zone" means premises where children |
|
|
commonly gather. The term includes a school, day-care facility, |
|
|
playground, public or private youth center, public swimming pool, |
|
|
video arcade facility, or other facility that regularly holds |
|
|
events primarily for children. The term does not include a church, |
|
|
as defined by Section 544.251, Insurance Code. |
|
|
(2) "Playground," "premises," "school," "video arcade |
|
|
facility," and "youth center" have the meanings assigned by Section |
|
|
481.134, Health and Safety Code. |
|
|
(3) "Registered sex offender" means an individual who |
|
|
is subject to the registration requirements of Chapter 62, Code of |
|
|
Criminal Procedure. |
|
|
(b) This section applies only to a county with a population |
|
|
of 300,000 or less. |
|
|
(c) To provide for the public safety, the commissioners |
|
|
court of a county by order may restrict a registered sex offender |
|
|
from going in, on, or within a specified distance of a child safety |
|
|
zone located: |
|
|
(1) in a school district with 500 or fewer students in |
|
|
enrollment; and |
|
|
(2) in the unincorporated area of the county. |
|
|
(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution of an |
|
|
offense under the order that the registered sex offender was in, on, |
|
|
or within a specified distance of a child safety zone for a |
|
|
legitimate purpose, including transportation of a child that the |
|
|
registered sex offender is legally permitted to be with, |
|
|
transportation to and from work, and other work-related purposes. |
|
|
(e) The order may establish a distance requirement |
|
|
described by Subsection (c) at any distance of not more than 1,000 |
|
|
feet. |
|
|
(f) The order must establish procedures for a registered sex |
|
|
offender to apply for an exemption from the order. |
|
|
(g) The order must exempt a registered sex offender who |
|
|
established residency in a residence located within the specified |
|
|
distance of a child safety zone before the date the order is |
|
|
adopted. The exemption must apply only to: |
|
|
(1) areas necessary for the registered sex offender to |
|
|
have access to and to live in the residence; and |
|
|
(2) the period the registered sex offender maintains |
|
|
residency in the residence. |
|
|
(h) A person commits an offense if the person violates an |
|
|
order adopted under this section. An offense under this subsection |
|
|
is a Class C misdemeanor. |
|
|
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |