Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 871 amends provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure relating to the sex offender registration program. The bill clarifies that an offender is considered employed or carries on a vocation if the person volunteers on a full-time or part-time basis, and is considered a student if the person enrolls on a full-time or part-time basis in any educational facility. The bill requires a sex offender who is employed, carries on a vocation, or attends classes at a public or private higher education institution to register with that institution's campus security or the local law enforcement authority (authority). Also, it requires an offender who resides in Texas but is affiliated with a higher education institution in another state to register with that institution's campus security or the local law enforcement authority and to notify the appropriate authority when the person's status as a worker or student terminates. The bill authorizes a public or private higher education institution and its campus security authority to release certain public information regarding a registered sex offender and provides that the institution and its authority are not liable for any damages arising from the release of information.

            The bill requires the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to determine and to inform the offender which local law enforcement authority serves as the offender's primary registration authority based on the municipality or county in which the person resides, works, or attends school. Within a specified time frame, the bill requires an offender's supervising officer to notify the authority of any change in the offender's job or education status, the authority to notify DPS, and DPS to notify the higher education institution, if appropriate.

            Senate Bill 871 amends provisions of the Health and Safety Code relating to the civil commitment of sex offenders. The bill changes the composition of the multidisciplinary team that assesses whether a person is a sexually violent predator and increases certain time frames governing civil commitment procedures. The bill requires a person who is on trial to determine the person's status as a sexually violent predator to submit to all required or permitted expert examinations and provides certain consequences for the failure to submit. The bill provides that the civil commitment order is effective upon entry of the order; increases the offender's commitment requirements; allows the requirements to be modified with proper notice and a hearing; and authorizes a case manager to instruct the offender on the requirements regardless of whether the person is incarcerated at the time. The bill increases from $1,600 to $2,500 the limit that the state will pay for a civil commitment proceeding and clarifies that the state will pay the reasonable costs of appointed counsel and treatment. The bill establishes that a person who suffers from a behavioral abnormality as determined under the civil commitment of sexually violent predators chapter is not considered a person of unsound mind, due to that abnormality, for certain provisions of the Texas Constitution.

             The bill requires the Office of State Counsel for Offenders to represent indigent persons, rather than all persons, subject to civil commitment proceedings and changes the name of the Interagency Council on Sex Offender Treatment to the Council on Sex Offender Treatment. The bill authorizes a judge to request assistance from the council to determine the appropriate residence for a sex offender. The bill provides immunity to an employee of the prison prosecution unit who initiates and pursues civil commitment proceedings.