By: Granoff H.B. No. 1847
73R6036 DAK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the disposition of certain delinquent children by the
1-3 juvenile courts and the Texas Youth Commission.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 54, Family Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Section 54.033 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 54.033. INVESTIGATION OF HOME. (a) The juvenile
1-8 probation department shall thoroughly investigate the home of any
1-9 child who has been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent
1-10 conduct that violates a penal law of this state of the grade of
1-11 felony.
1-12 (b) The department shall determine in the investigation the
1-13 quality of care and the level of support and supervision the child
1-14 would receive if the child were placed on probation in the child's
1-15 home.
1-16 (c) The department shall submit its findings in writing to
1-17 the juvenile court for consideration at the disposition hearing
1-18 under Section 54.04 of this code.
1-19 (d) This section does not apply to a child who has been
1-20 adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct that included a
1-21 violation of a penal law listed in Section 53.045(a) of this code
1-22 if the petition was approved by the grand jury under Section 53.045
1-23 of this code.
1-24 SECTION 2. Section 54.04, Family Code, is amended by
2-1 amending Subsections (b), (c), (d), and (i) and adding Subsection
2-2 (l) to read as follows:
2-3 (b) At the disposition hearing, the juvenile court may
2-4 consider written reports from probation officers, professional
2-5 court employees, or professional consultants in addition to the
2-6 testimony of witnesses. The court or jury shall consider the
2-7 report of any investigation prepared under Section 54.033 of this
2-8 code of the child's home. Prior to the disposition hearing, the
2-9 court shall provide the attorney for the child with access to all
2-10 written matter to be considered in disposition. The court may
2-11 order counsel not to reveal items to the child or his parent,
2-12 guardian, or guardian ad litem if such disclosure would materially
2-13 harm the treatment and rehabilitation of the child or would
2-14 substantially decrease the likelihood of receiving information from
2-15 the same or similar sources in the future.
2-16 (c) No disposition may be made under this section unless the
2-17 child is in need of rehabilitation or the protection of the public
2-18 or the child requires that disposition be made. If the court or
2-19 jury does not so find, the court shall dismiss the child and enter
2-20 a final judgment without any disposition. No disposition placing
2-21 the child on probation outside the child's home may be made under
2-22 this section unless the court or jury finds that the child, in the
2-23 child's home, cannot be provided the quality of care and level of
2-24 support and supervision that the child needs to meet the conditions
2-25 of the probation.
2-26 (d) If the court or jury makes the finding specified in
2-27 Subsection (c) of this section allowing the court to make a
3-1 disposition in the case:
3-2 (1) the court or jury may, in addition to any order
3-3 required or authorized under Section 54.041 or 54.042 of this code,
3-4 place the child on probation on such reasonable and lawful terms as
3-5 the court may determine <for a period not to exceed one year,
3-6 subject to extensions not to exceed one year each>:
3-7 (A) in his own home or in the custody of a
3-8 relative or other fit person; or
3-9 (B) subject to the finding under Subsection (c)
3-10 of this section on the placement of the child outside the child's
3-11 home, in:
3-12 (i) a suitable foster home; or
3-13 (ii) <(C) in> a suitable public or private
3-14 institution or agency, except the Texas Youth Commission;
3-15 (2) if the court or jury found at the conclusion of
3-16 the adjudication hearing that the child engaged in delinquent
3-17 conduct and if the petition was not approved by the grand jury
3-18 under Section 53.045 of this code, the court may commit the child
3-19 to the Texas Youth Commission without a determinate sentence; or
3-20 (3) if the court or jury found at the conclusion of
3-21 the adjudication hearing that the child engaged in delinquent
3-22 conduct that included a violation of a penal law listed in Section
3-23 53.045(a) of this code and if the petition was approved by the
3-24 grand jury under Section 53.045 of this code, the court or jury may
3-25 sentence the child to commitment in the Texas Youth Commission with
3-26 a transfer to the institutional division of the Texas Department of
3-27 Criminal Justice for any term of years not to exceed 40 years.
4-1 (i) If the court places the child on probation outside the
4-2 child's <his> home or commits the child to the Texas Youth
4-3 Commission, the court shall include in its order its determination
4-4 that <whether>:
4-5 (1) it is in the child's best interests to be placed
4-6 outside the child's <his> home; <and>
4-7 (2) reasonable efforts were made to prevent or
4-8 eliminate the need for the child's removal from the home and to
4-9 make it possible for the child to return to the child's <his> home;
4-10 and
4-11 (3) the child, in the child's home, cannot be provided
4-12 the quality of care and level of support and supervision that the
4-13 child needs to meet the conditions of probation.
4-14 (l) The period of probation for a child placed on probation
4-15 in the child's home may not exceed one year and is subject to
4-16 extensions that may not exceed one year. The period of probation
4-17 for a child placed on probation outside the child's home may not be
4-18 longer than one year or until the child's 18th birthday, whichever
4-19 is later.
4-20 SECTION 3. Section 61.071, Human Resources Code, is amended
4-21 to read as follows:
4-22 Sec. 61.071. Initial Examination. The commission shall
4-23 examine and make a study of each child committed to it as soon as
4-24 possible after the arrival of the child. The study shall be made
4-25 according to rules established by the commission and shall include
4-26 an investigation of all pertinent circumstances of the life and
4-27 behavior of the child. One objective of the study shall be to
5-1 identify recidivists or other children who may need long-term
5-2 residential care. A second objective of the study shall be to
5-3 identify those children who are suitable for release under
5-4 supervision to their own homes.
5-5 SECTION 4. Section 61.081(a), Human Resources Code, is
5-6 amended to read as follows:
5-7 (a) The commission may release under supervision any child
5-8 in its custody and place the child in his or her home or in any
5-9 situation or family approved by the commission. Prior to placing a
5-10 child in his or her home, the commission shall evaluate the home
5-11 setting to determine the level of supervision and quality of care
5-12 that is available in the home. The commission shall release under
5-13 supervision any child in its custody and place the child in his or
5-14 her home if the commission finds that the child, in the child's
5-15 home, can be provided the quality of care and level of supervision
5-16 that the child needs for the child's rehabilitation.
5-17 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
5-18 applies to any finding or order of a disposition hearing under
5-19 Section 54.04, Family Code, beginning on or after that date.
5-20 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
5-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.