By Tillery H.B. No. 775
75R4032 JBN-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the disposition of certain juveniles who unlawfully
1-3 possess a weapon.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 54.04, Family Code, is amended by
1-6 amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (p) to read as
1-7 follows:
1-8 (d) If the court or jury makes the finding specified in
1-9 Subsection (c) [of this section] allowing the court to make a
1-10 disposition in the case:
1-11 (1) the court or jury may, in addition to any order
1-12 required or authorized under Subsection (p) or Section 54.041 or
1-13 54.042 [of this code], place the child on probation on such
1-14 reasonable and lawful terms as the court may determine:
1-15 (A) in his own home or in the custody of a
1-16 relative or other fit person;
1-17 (B) subject to the finding under Subsection (c)
1-18 [of this section] on the placement of the child outside the child's
1-19 home and subject to an order under Subsection (p), in:
1-20 (i) a suitable foster home; or
1-21 (ii) a suitable public or private
1-22 institution or agency, except the Texas Youth Commission; or
1-23 (C) after an adjudication that the child engaged
1-24 in delinquent conduct and subject to the finding under Subsection
2-1 (c) on the placement of the child outside the child's home, in an
2-2 intermediate sanction facility operated under Chapter 61, Human
2-3 Resources Code;
2-4 (2) if the court or jury found at the conclusion of
2-5 the adjudication hearing that the child engaged in delinquent
2-6 conduct and if the petition was not approved by the grand jury
2-7 under Section 53.045 of this code, the court may commit the child
2-8 to the Texas Youth Commission without a determinate sentence;
2-9 (3) if the court or jury found at the conclusion of
2-10 the adjudication hearing that the child engaged in delinquent
2-11 conduct that included a violation of a penal law listed in Section
2-12 53.045(a) of this code and if the petition was approved by the
2-13 grand jury under Section 53.045 of this code, the court or jury may
2-14 sentence the child to commitment in the Texas Youth Commission with
2-15 a possible transfer to the institutional division or the pardons
2-16 and paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
2-17 for a term of:
2-18 (A) not more than 40 years if the conduct
2-19 constitutes:
2-20 (i) a capital felony;
2-21 (ii) a felony of the first degree; or
2-22 (iii) an aggravated controlled substance
2-23 felony;
2-24 (B) not more than 20 years if the conduct
2-25 constitutes a felony of the second degree; or
2-26 (C) not more than 10 years if the conduct
2-27 constitutes a felony of the third degree;
3-1 (4) subject to an order made under Subsection (p), the
3-2 court may assign the child an appropriate sanction level and
3-3 sanctions as provided by the assignment guidelines in Section
3-4 59.003; or
3-5 (5) if applicable, the court or jury may make a
3-6 disposition under Subsection (m) of this section.
3-7 (p) If the child is adjudicated to have engaged in conduct
3-8 described by Section 46.02 or 46.03, Penal Code, and that conduct
3-9 includes the possession of a firearm, the court shall order the
3-10 child to be confined for 60 days to a juvenile detention facility
3-11 designated by the court or if a juvenile detention facility is not
3-12 available, an intermediate sanction facility operated under Chapter
3-13 61, Human Resources Code. This subsection does not apply to a
3-14 child whose disposition is made under Subsection (d)(1)(C), (d)(2),
3-15 (d)(3), or (m).
3-16 SECTION 2. Section 61.0386, Human Resources Code, is amended
3-17 by amending Subsections (b) and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to
3-18 read as follows:
3-19 (b) The commission may refuse to accept a child proposed to
3-20 be placed in an intermediate sanction facility under Section
3-21 54.04(d)(1)[(C)], Family Code, if:
3-22 (1) the commission determines that the services and
3-23 level of security at the facility are not appropriate for the
3-24 child; or
3-25 (2) space for the child is not available.
3-26 (e) The commission shall return a child ordered to an
3-27 intermediate sanction facility under Section 54.04(p), Family Code,
4-1 to the juvenile court that rendered the order on the 60th day after
4-2 the date on which the commission received the child.
4-3 (f) The placement of a child in an intermediate sanction
4-4 facility under Section 54.04(d)(1), Family Code, is not a
4-5 commitment to the commission, and the child may not be transferred
4-6 by the commission to, or be a resident of, any other type of
4-7 commission facility other than a medical facility.
4-8 SECTION 3. (a) This Act applies only to the disposition of
4-9 a child under Section 54.04, Family Code, for conduct that occurs
4-10 on or after the effective date of this Act. The disposition of a
4-11 child under that section for conduct that occurred before the
4-12 effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
4-13 immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law
4-14 continues in effect for those dispositions.
4-15 (b) Conduct occurs before the effective date of this Act if
4-16 any conduct that constitutes an element of the offense for which a
4-17 child is adjudicated as a delinquent child or a child in need of
4-18 supervision occurred before the effective date of this Act.
4-19 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-20 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.