SRC-CDH H.B. 2065 75(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   H.B. 2065
By: King (Wentworth)
Criminal Justice
5-17-97
Engrossed


DIGEST 

Under the Texas Family Code, the juvenile court has the authority to
designate an "intake office or official" for juvenile cases.  In all
cases, this designation is either made to the juvenile probation
department or the office of the prosecuting attorney.  During the 74th
Legislature, H.B. 327 amended the Family Code to provide that, unless the
prosecutor and probation departments agree otherwise, certain offense
referrals must be sent to the office of the prosecuting attorney for
review.  If the offense is required to be reviewed by the prosecutor,
juvenile probation has no authority to dispose of the case or divert the
child without the prosecutor's agreement.  Problems have arisen with this
system because accurate statistical and case records are not being kept in
some counties.  In counties where problems have occurred, local law
enforcement agencies are sending the juvenile referral directly to the
office of the prosecutor.  Juvenile probation officials never see the
referral and usually do not know it exists; thus, no record of the
referral is made in the caseworker system.  Furthermore, if the prosecutor
disposes of the case in some way that does not involve probation, a record
may never exist with probation and the statistics will never reflect that
the referral came into the system.  
H.B. 2065 would amend the Family Code to require a local law enforcement
agency to transfer a child's case to a juvenile probation department first
for statistical reporting purposes only.  Upon creating a statistical
record, the probation department must promptly forward the case to the
prosecuting attorney for review.     

PURPOSE

As proposed, H.B. 2065 provides for the statistical recording of juvenile
cases initially referred to the office of the prosecuting attorney. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 52.04, Family Code, by adding Subsection (c), to
require the referring entity, if the office of the prosecuting attorney is
designated by a juvenile court to conduct the preliminary investigation
under Section 53.01, to first transfer the child's case to the juvenile
probation department for statistical reporting purposes only.  Requires
the probation department, on the creation of a statistical record or file
for the case, to promptly forward the case to the prosecuting attorney for
review under Section 53.01.   

SECTION 2. Emergency clause.
  Effective date:  upon passage.