By Hartnett H.B. No. 1606
75R5637 DAK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to truant conduct or conduct resulting in a failure to
1-3 attend school.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 51.03(b), Family Code, is amended to read
1-6 as follows:
1-7 (b) Conduct indicating a need for supervision is:
1-8 (1) subject to Subsection (f) of this section,
1-9 conduct, other than a traffic offense, that violates:
1-10 (A) the penal laws of this state of the grade of
1-11 misdemeanor that are punishable by fine only; or
1-12 (B) the penal ordinances of any political
1-13 subdivision of this state;
1-14 (2) conduct that violates Section 25.094, Education
1-15 Code, or the unexcused voluntary absence of a child on 10 or more
1-16 days or parts of days within a six-month period or three or more
1-17 days or parts of days within a four-week period from school without
1-18 the consent of his parents;
1-19 (3) the voluntary absence of a child from his home
1-20 without the consent of his parent or guardian for a substantial
1-21 length of time or without intent to return;
1-22 (4) conduct which violates the laws of this state
1-23 prohibiting driving while intoxicated or under the influence of
1-24 intoxicating liquor (first or second offense) or driving while
2-1 under the influence of any narcotic drug or of any other drug to a
2-2 degree which renders him incapable of safely driving a vehicle
2-3 (first or second offense);
2-4 (5) conduct prohibited by city ordinance or by state
2-5 law involving the inhalation of the fumes or vapors of paint and
2-6 other protective coatings or glue and other adhesives and the
2-7 volatile chemicals itemized in Section 484.002, Health and Safety
2-8 Code;
2-9 (6) an act that violates a school district's
2-10 previously communicated written standards of student conduct for
2-11 which the child has been expelled under Section 21.3011, Education
2-12 Code; or
2-13 (7) conduct that violates a reasonable and lawful
2-14 order of a court entered under Section 264.305.
2-15 SECTION 2. Section 54.021, Family Code, is amended by
2-16 amending Subsections (c), (d), and (f) and adding Subsection (i) to
2-17 read as follows:
2-18 (c) On a finding that a person has engaged in conduct
2-19 described by Section 51.03(b)(2), the justice or municipal court:
2-20 (1) shall enter an order appropriate to the nature of
2-21 the conduct; and
2-22 (2) may order that the person's driver's license be
2-23 suspended in the manner provided by Section 54.042.
2-24 (d) On a finding by the justice or municipal court that the
2-25 person has engaged in truant conduct described in Section
2-26 51.03(b)(2) more than once [and that the conduct is of a recurrent
2-27 nature], the court has jurisdiction to enter an order that includes
3-1 one or more of the following provisions requiring that:
3-2 (1) the person attend a preparatory class for the high
3-3 school equivalency examination provided under Section 7.111,
3-4 Education Code, if the court determines that the person is too old
3-5 to do well in a formal classroom environment;
3-6 (2) the person attend a special program that the court
3-7 determines to be in the best interests of the person, including an
3-8 alcohol and drug abuse program;
3-9 (3) the person and the person's parents, managing
3-10 conservator, or guardian attend a class for students at risk of
3-11 dropping out of school designed for both the person and the
3-12 person's parents, managing conservator, or guardian;
3-13 (4) the person complete reasonable community service
3-14 requirements;
3-15 (5) [the person's driver's license be suspended in the
3-16 manner provided by Section 54.042 of this code;]
3-17 [(6)] the person attend school without unexcused
3-18 absences; or
3-19 (6) [(7)] the person participate in a tutorial program
3-20 provided by the school attended by the person in the academic
3-21 subjects in which the person is enrolled for a total number of
3-22 hours ordered by the court.
3-23 (f) A school attendance officer may refer a person alleged
3-24 to have engaged in conduct described in Section 51.03(b)(2) of this
3-25 code to a [the] justice or municipal court in the county [precinct]
3-26 where the person resides or [in the precinct] where the person's
3-27 school is located if the juvenile court having exclusive original
4-1 jurisdiction has waived its jurisdiction as provided by Subsection
4-2 (a) of this section for all cases involving conduct described by
4-3 Section 51.03(b)(2) of this code.
4-4 (i) The juvenile board of the county may appoint a master
4-5 for truancy cases to assist a justice or municipal court in its
4-6 exercise of jurisdiction over these cases.
4-7 SECTION 3. Section 25.094(b), Education Code, is amended to
4-8 read as follows:
4-9 (b) An offense under this section may be prosecuted in the
4-10 justice or municipal court in the county [for the precinct] in
4-11 which the child resides or in which the school is located.
4-12 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-13 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section,
4-14 the changes in law made by this Act apply to truancy cases or cases
4-15 of failure to attend school without regard to whether the conduct
4-16 involved in those cases occurred before, on, or after the effective
4-17 date of this Act.
4-18 (c) The change in law to Sections 54.021(c) and (d), Family
4-19 Code, made by Section 2 of this Act applies only to conduct that
4-20 occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. Conduct
4-21 violating the penal law of this state occurs on or after the
4-22 effective date of this Act if any element of the violation occurs
4-23 on or after that date. Conduct that occurs before the effective
4-24 date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the
4-25 conduct occurred, and that law is continued in effect for that
4-26 purpose.
4-27 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.