By Serna, Naishtat H.B. No. 1092
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to missing children and other missing persons.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 79.001(3), Human Resources Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (3) "Missing child" means a child whose whereabouts
1-7 are unknown to the child's legal custodian, the circumstances of
1-8 whose absence indicate that:
1-9 (A) the child did not voluntarily leave the care
1-10 and control of the custodian, and the taking of the child was not
1-11 authorized by law; [or]
1-12 (B) the child voluntarily left the care and
1-13 control of his legal custodian without the custodian's consent and
1-14 without intent to return; or
1-15 (C) the child was taken or retained in violation
1-16 of the terms of a court order for possession of or access to the
1-17 child.
1-18 SECTION 2. Section 79.008(a), Human Resources Code, is
1-19 amended to read as follows:
1-20 (a) Local law enforcement agencies, on receiving a report of
1-21 a missing child or a missing person, shall:
1-22 (1) if the subject of the report is a child and the
1-23 well-being of the child is in danger, immediately start an
1-24 investigation in order to determine the present location of the
2-1 child;
2-2 (2) if the subject of the report is a person other
2-3 than a child or if the subject of the report is a child whose
2-4 well-being is not considered to be in danger, start an
2-5 investigation with due diligence in order to determine the present
2-6 location of the person; [and]
2-7 (3) immediately enter the name of the child or person
2-8 into the clearinghouse and the national crime information center
2-9 missing person file if the child or person meets the center's
2-10 criteria, with all available identifying features such as dental
2-11 records, fingerprints, other physical characteristics, and a
2-12 description of the clothing worn when last seen; and
2-13 (4) on determining the location of a child under
2-14 Subdivision (1) or (2), other than a child who is subject to the
2-15 continuing jurisdiction of a district court, an officer may take
2-16 possession of the child and shall deliver or arrange for the
2-17 delivery of the child to a person entitled to possession of the
2-18 child. If the person entitled to possession of the child is not
2-19 immediately available, the law enforcement officer shall deliver
2-20 the child to the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.
2-21 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-26 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-27 passage, and it is so enacted.