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House Bill 3148 |
House Author: Smith, Todd |
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Effective: Vetoed |
Senate Sponsor: West |
House Bill 3148 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to exempt certain young persons who are convicted of an offense involving consensual sex from the requirement of registering as a sex offender in Texas. The bill sets forth eligibility requirements for a person to petition a court for an order exempting the person from sex offender registration requirements and modifies the age difference between a defendant and victim or intended victim in provisions requiring an affirmative finding regarding an age-based offense. The bill transfers the duties of the Council on Sex Offender Treatment in determining the minimum required registration period for each reportable conviction or adjudication under the Texas sex offender registration program in compliance with federal law to the Department of Public Safety.
Reason Given for Veto: 'House Bill No. 3148 would amend current Texas law that allows some sex offenders, in very limited circumstances, to petition a court to be exempt from registering as a sex offender. While House Bill No. 3148 was intended to more narrowly define who could seek a court’s exemption from sex offender registration, I believe the bill fails to adequately protect young victims.
'Specifically, the bill would allow an individual who has completed deferred adjudication for the offense of indecency with a child, and who was younger than 21 years old at the time of the offense, to be eligible to petition a court for an exemption from sex offender registration, regardless of the age of the victim.
'While other provisions of the criminal code provide some protections against very young victims being re-victimized in the event that a court were to improvidently exempt their abusers from sex offender registration, I am not willing to take that gamble with the lives of young Texans.'