1-1 By: Harris S.B. No. 789
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 27, 1995; February 28, 1995,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
1-4 April 11, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6,
1-5 Nays 0; April 11, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to possession and delivery of a child in an emergency
1-9 without a court order.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (h), Section 17.03, Family
1-12 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-13 (a) An authorized representative of the Texas Department of
1-14 Human Services, a law enforcement officer, or a juvenile probation
1-15 officer may take possession of a child without a court order only
1-16 under the following conditions, except as provided by Section
1-17 17.032 of this code <and no others>:
1-18 (1) upon discovery of a child in a situation of danger
1-19 to the child's physical health or safety when the sole purpose is
1-20 to deliver the child without unnecessary delay to the parent,
1-21 managing conservator, possessory conservator, guardian, caretaker,
1-22 or custodian who is presently entitled to possession of the child;
1-23 (2) upon the voluntary delivery of the child by the
1-24 parent, managing conservator, possessory conservator, guardian,
1-25 caretaker, or custodian who is presently entitled to possession of
1-26 the child;
1-27 (3) upon personal knowledge of facts which would lead
1-28 a person of ordinary prudence and caution to believe that there is
1-29 an immediate danger to the physical health or safety of the child
1-30 and that there is no time to obtain a temporary restraining order
1-31 or attachment under Section 17.02 of this code;
1-32 (4) upon information furnished by another which has
1-33 been corroborated by personal knowledge of facts and all of which
1-34 taken together would lead a person of ordinary prudence and caution
1-35 to believe that there is an immediate danger to the physical health
1-36 or safety of the child and that there is no time to obtain a
1-37 temporary restraining order or attachment under Section 17.02 of
1-38 this code;
1-39 (5) upon personal knowledge of facts that would lead a
1-40 person of ordinary prudence and caution to believe that the child
1-41 has been the victim of sexual abuse and that there is no time to
1-42 obtain a temporary restraining order or attachment under Section
1-43 17.02 of this code; or
1-44 (6) upon information furnished by another that has
1-45 been corroborated by personal knowledge of facts and all of which
1-46 taken together would lead a person of ordinary prudence and caution
1-47 to believe that the child has been the victim of sexual abuse and
1-48 that there is no time to obtain a temporary restraining order or
1-49 attachment under Section 17.02 of this code.
1-50 (h) When a child is taken into possession under this
1-51 section, that child may <shall> not be held in isolation or in a
1-52 jail or juvenile detention facility. The child may not be placed
1-53 in a facility where the child can see or be seen by or hear or be
1-54 heard by a child who has been adjudicated as a child who engaged in
1-55 delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision
1-56 under Title 3.
1-57 SECTION 2. Chapter 17, Family Code, is amended by adding
1-58 Section 17.032 to read as follows:
1-59 Sec. 17.032. POSSESSION AND DELIVERY OF MISSING CHILD.
1-60 (a) A law enforcement officer who discovers during a criminal
1-61 investigation relating to a child's custody that the child is a
1-62 missing child and who believes that a person may flee with or
1-63 conceal the child may:
1-64 (1) take possession of the child; and
1-65 (2) deliver or arrange for the delivery of the child
1-66 to a parent or other person entitled to possession of the child.
1-67 (b) A law enforcement officer who takes possession of a
1-68 child and delivers or arranges for the delivery of the child to a
2-1 person entitled to possession under this section is immune from
2-2 criminal and civil liability for actions relating to the delivery
2-3 of the child if, at the time the possession and delivery occurs,
2-4 the officer reasonably believes that:
2-5 (1) the child is a missing child; and
2-6 (2) the person to whom the child is delivered is
2-7 entitled to possession of the child.
2-8 (c) In this section, "missing child" has the meaning
2-9 assigned by Section 79.001, Human Resources Code.
2-10 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
2-11 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-16 * * * * *