By: Harris S.B. No. 789
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to possession and delivery of a child in an emergency
1-2 without a court order.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (h), Section 17.03, Family
1-5 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) An authorized representative of the Texas Department of
1-7 Human Services, a law enforcement officer, or a juvenile probation
1-8 officer may take possession of a child without a court order only
1-9 under the following conditions, except as provided by Section
1-10 17.032 of this code <and no others>:
1-11 (1) upon discovery of a child in a situation of danger
1-12 to the child's physical health or safety when the sole purpose is
1-13 to deliver the child without unnecessary delay to the parent,
1-14 managing conservator, possessory conservator, guardian, caretaker,
1-15 or custodian who is presently entitled to possession of the child;
1-16 (2) upon the voluntary delivery of the child by the
1-17 parent, managing conservator, possessory conservator, guardian,
1-18 caretaker, or custodian who is presently entitled to possession of
1-19 the child;
1-20 (3) upon personal knowledge of facts which would lead
1-21 a person of ordinary prudence and caution to believe that there is
1-22 an immediate danger to the physical health or safety of the child
1-23 and that there is no time to obtain a temporary restraining order
1-24 or attachment under Section 17.02 of this code;
2-1 (4) upon information furnished by another which has
2-2 been corroborated by personal knowledge of facts and all of which
2-3 taken together would lead a person of ordinary prudence and caution
2-4 to believe that there is an immediate danger to the physical health
2-5 or safety of the child and that there is no time to obtain a
2-6 temporary restraining order or attachment under Section 17.02 of
2-7 this code;
2-8 (5) upon personal knowledge of facts that would lead a
2-9 person of ordinary prudence and caution to believe that the child
2-10 has been the victim of sexual abuse and that there is no time to
2-11 obtain a temporary restraining order or attachment under Section
2-12 17.02 of this code; or
2-13 (6) upon information furnished by another that has
2-14 been corroborated by personal knowledge of facts and all of which
2-15 taken together would lead a person of ordinary prudence and caution
2-16 to believe that the child has been the victim of sexual abuse and
2-17 that there is no time to obtain a temporary restraining order or
2-18 attachment under Section 17.02 of this code.
2-19 (h) When a child is taken into possession under this
2-20 section, that child may <shall> not be held in isolation or in a
2-21 jail or juvenile detention facility. The child may not be placed
2-22 in a facility where the child can see or be seen by or hear or be
2-23 heard by a child who has been adjudicated as a child who engaged in
2-24 delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision
2-25 under Title 3.
2-26 SECTION 2. Chapter 17, Family Code, is amended by adding
2-27 Section 17.032 to read as follows:
3-1 Sec. 17.032. POSSESSION AND DELIVERY OF MISSING CHILD.
3-2 (a) A law enforcement officer who discovers during a criminal
3-3 investigation relating to a child's custody that the child is a
3-4 missing child and who believes that a person may flee with or
3-5 conceal the child may:
3-6 (1) take possession of the child; and
3-7 (2) deliver or arrange for the delivery of the child
3-8 to a parent or other person entitled to possession of the child.
3-9 (b) A law enforcement officer who takes possession of a
3-10 child and delivers or arranges for the delivery of the child to a
3-11 person entitled to possession under this section is immune from
3-12 criminal and civil liability for actions relating to the delivery
3-13 of the child if, at the time the possession and delivery occurs,
3-14 the officer reasonably believes that:
3-15 (1) the child is a missing child; and
3-16 (2) the person to whom the child is delivered is
3-17 entitled to possession of the child.
3-18 (c) In this section, "missing child" has the meaning
3-19 assigned by Section 79.001, Human Resources Code.
3-20 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-21 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.