By Place H.B. No. 2119
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to intermediate sanction facilities and the disposition of
1-3 delinquent children.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Human Resources Code,
1-6 is amended by adding Section 61.0386 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 61.0386. INTERMEDIATE SANCTION FACILITIES. (a) The
1-8 commission may establish, or contract with another person to
1-9 establish, one or more intermediate sanction facilities that
1-10 provide secure residential care for children.
1-11 (b) The commission may refuse to accept a child proposed to
1-12 be placed in an intermediate sanction facility under Section
1-13 54.04(d)(1)(C), Family Code, if:
1-14 (1) the commission determines that the services and
1-15 level of security at the facility are inappropriate for the child;
1-16 or
1-17 (2) space for the child is not available.
1-18 (c) In determining whether space is available in an
1-19 intermediate sanction facility for a child on probation, the
1-20 commission shall consider the extent the county from which the
1-21 child is to be placed, in comparison to other counties, has
1-22 exceeded targeted levels for annual commitments to the commission
1-23 without relying on placements in an intermediate care facility.
1-24 (d) The commission may return to the juvenile court a child
2-1 on probation in an intermediate sanction facility at any time the
2-2 commission determines that:
2-3 (1) the services and level of security at the facility
2-4 are not appropriate for the child; or
2-5 (2) the child's return is necessary to prevent
2-6 overcrowding of the facility.
2-7 (e) The commission may place a child committed to the
2-8 commission under Section 54.04(d)(2), Family Code, in an
2-9 intermediate sanction facility.
2-10 (f) The placement of a child in an intermediate sanction
2-11 facility under Section 54.04(d)(1), Family Code, is not a
2-12 commitment to the commission, and the child may not be transferred
2-13 by the commission to, or be a resident of, any other type of
2-14 commission facility other than a medical facility.
2-15 SECTION 2. Section 54.04(d), Family Code, is amended to read
2-16 as follows:
2-17 (d) If the court or jury makes the finding specified in
2-18 Subsection (c) of this section allowing the court to make a
2-19 disposition in the case:
2-20 (1) the court or jury may, in addition to any order
2-21 required or authorized under Section 54.041 or 54.042 of this code,
2-22 place the child on probation on such reasonable and lawful terms as
2-23 the court may determine:
2-24 (A) in his own home or in the custody of a
2-25 relative or other fit person; <or>
2-26 (B) subject to the finding under Subsection (c)
2-27 of this section on the placement of the child outside the child's
3-1 home, in:
3-2 (i) a suitable foster home; or
3-3 (ii) a suitable public or private
3-4 institution or agency, except the Texas Youth Commission; or
3-5 (C) after an adjudication that the child engaged
3-6 in delinquent conduct and subject to the finding under Subsection
3-7 (c) on the placement of the child outside the child's home, in an
3-8 intermediate sanction facility operated under Section 61.0386,
3-9 Human Resources Code, for any period not longer than one year;
3-10 (2) if the court or jury found at the conclusion of
3-11 the adjudication hearing that the child engaged in delinquent
3-12 conduct and if the petition was not approved by the grand jury
3-13 under Section 53.045 of this code, the court may commit the child
3-14 to the Texas Youth Commission without a determinate sentence; or
3-15 (3) if the court or jury found at the conclusion of
3-16 the adjudication hearing that the child engaged in delinquent
3-17 conduct that included a violation of a penal law listed in Section
3-18 53.045(a) of this code and if the petition was approved by the
3-19 grand jury under Section 53.045 of this code, the court or jury may
3-20 sentence the child to commitment in the Texas Youth Commission with
3-21 a transfer to the institutional division of the Texas Department of
3-22 Criminal Justice for any term of years not to exceed 40 years.
3-23 SECTION 3. A child may not be placed in an intermediate
3-24 sanction facility under Section 61.0386, Human Resources Code, as
3-25 added by this Act, for probation for engaging in delinquent conduct
3-26 that occurred before the effective date of this Act.
3-27 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-5 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-6 passage, and it is so enacted.