BILL ANALYSIS


                                                         S.B. 789
                                                       By: Harris
                                                    Jurisprudence
                                                         04-12-95
                                     Committee Report (Unamended)
BACKGROUND

The Joint Interim Committee on the Family Code made a
recommendation to provide a mechanism that would allow law
enforcement personnel to take possession of a child without a court
order when the child is listed as a missing child and is the
subject of an investigation and there is reason to believe that a
person will flee with or conceal the child.

PURPOSE

As proposed, S.B. 789 authorizes an authorized representative of
the Texas Department of Human Services, a law enforcement officer,
or a juvenile probation officer to take possession and to deliver
a child to a person entitled to possession of the child, in an
emergency without a court order.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or
agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Sections 17.03(a) and (h), Family Code, as
follows:

     (a)  Authorizes an authorized representative of the Texas
     Department of Human Services, a law enforcement officer, or a
     juvenile probation officer to take possession of a child
     without a court order only under certain conditions, except as
     provided by Section 17.032 of this code.
     
     (h)  Prohibits a child taken into possession from being held
     in isolation or in a jail or juvenile detention facility. 
     Prohibits the child from being placed in a facility where the
     child can see, be seen by, hear, or be heard by a child who
     has been adjudicated as a child who engaged in delinquent
     conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision under
     Title 3.
     
     SECTION 2.  Amends Chapter 17, Family Code, by adding Section
17.032, as follows:

     Sec. 17.032.  POSSESSION AND DELIVERY OF MISSING CHILD.  (a) 
     Authorizes a law enforcement officer who discovers during a
     criminal investigation relating to a child's custody that the
     child is a missing child and who believes that a person may
     flee with or conceal the child to take possession of the child
     and deliver or arrange for the delivery of the child to a
     parent or other person entitled to possession of the child.
     
     (b)  Provides that a law enforcement officer who takes
       possession of a child and delivers or arranges for the
       delivery of the child to a person entitled to possession is
       immune from criminal and civil liability for actions
       relating to the delivery of the child if, at the time the
       possession and delivery occurs, the officer reasonably
       believes that the child is a missing child and the person to
       whom the child is delivered is entitled to possession of the
       child.
       
       (c)  Defines "missing child." 
       
       SECTION 3.   Effective date:  September 1, 1995.

SECTION 4. Emergency clause.