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HOUSE BILL 3517 |
HOUSE AUTHOR: Goodman et al. |
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EFFECTIVE: 9-1-99 |
SENATE SPONSOR: Harris |
House Bill 3517 amends provisions of Title 3 of the Family Code relating to the detention, adjudication, and disposition of certain persons in the juvenile justice system. Listed below are some of the changes.
1. Allows a juvenile law referee or master to perform the duties imposed on a magistrate relating to admissibility of a statement of a child.
2. Allows a juvenile court at any stage of the proceedings under the juvenile justice code to order a child referred to the court or alleged to have engaged in delinquent conduct to be examined by an appropriate expert, including a physician, psychiatrist, or psychologist.
3. Authorizes a prosecuting attorney, before filing a petition stating that further proceedings are authorized, to refer an offense to a grand jury in the county in which the offense is alleged to have been committed.
4. Sets out requirements for a court to release a child from detention.
5. Provides for the results of a diagnostic study of a child ordered by a juvenile court to be transferred to the appropriate criminal prosecutor when the juvenile court waives jurisdiction.
6. Allows a juvenile court to waive its exclusive original jurisdiction and transfer a person to the appropriate district or criminal district court if the person was between the ages of 10 and 17 at the time the person is alleged to have committed a capital felony or the offense of murder.
7. Sets out requirements for the detention of juveniles in certain discretionary transfer proceedings.
8. Permits a court or jury to place a child who has been sentenced to commitment in the Texas Youth Commission for a term of 10 years or less on probation as an alternative to being committed to the commission. Provides for the modification of a disposition to commit a child who has violated a condition of probation to the commission.
9. Provides for a hearing to be held by the juvenile court to determine whether to transfer a child who is placed on probation for certain offenses that will continue after the child's 18th birthday to the appropriate district court.
10. Amends provisions relating to proceedings concerning children with mental illness or mental retardation. Defines "having a mental illness." Gives the juvenile court jurisdiction to order mental health or mental retardation services for a child or for the commitment of a child. Sets out the terms, conditions, and requirements for the detention, determination, commitment proceedings, standards of care, examination to determine unfitness to proceed, transportation to and from a designated facility of placement, and transfer of the child to a criminal court on the child's 18th birthday.
11. Amends provisions relating to the photographing or fingerprinting of a child and the records and files of a juvenile court, a juvenile probation department, or a prosecuting attorney that relate to a child who is a party to a proceeding.
12. Authorizes a juvenile court to disseminate certain identifying information to the public relating to a child who is the subject of a directive to apprehend or a warrant of arrest and who cannot be located.
13. Prohibits a child from bringing an appeal or a postconviction writ of habeas corpus based on the failure of a juvenile court or probation department to report a deviation from the progressive sanctions guidelines in addition to the failure to provide a service or assignment under the guidelines.
14. Adds the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission to the list of licensing authorities subject to the law relating to the suspension of licenses for failure to pay child support.
15. Allows for an exception to the requirement that reports of abuse or neglect be made to certain entities in order to permit the report to be made to the Texas Youth Commission if it is based on information that is provided by a child while under the supervision of the commission and that concerns the child's alleged abuse of another child. Requires the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services and the commission to adopt guidelines for identifying a report that should be referred to the department or a law enforcement agency for investigation. The bill requires the commission to conduct an investigation if it receives a report of alleged abuse or neglect in any program operated by a local juvenile probation department or a private vendor under the authority of a county juvenile board and allows the investigating agency access to medical and mental health records relevant to the investigation.
16. Establishes guidelines relating to the education of certain incarcerated children by a school district.
17. Modifies the punishment for certain offenses relating to the operation of a motor vehicle by a minor.