By: Wentworth S.B. No. 598
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to certain assaults committed on public school employees,
1-2 officers, or volunteers; providing a criminal penalty.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 37.006, Education Code, is amended by
1-5 amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (d) to read
1-6 as follows:
1-7 (a) Except as provided by Section 37.007(a)(3) or (b)(2), a
1-8 student shall be removed from class and placed in an alternative
1-9 education program as provided by Section 37.008 if the student
1-10 engages in conduct punishable as a felony, or commits the following
1-11 on school property or while attending a school-sponsored or
1-12 school-related activity on or off of school property:
1-13 (1) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
1-14 the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code, or
1-15 terroristic threat under Section 22.07, Penal Code;
1-16 (2) sells, gives, or delivers to another person or
1-17 possesses or uses or is under the influence of:
1-18 (A) marihuana or a controlled substance, as
1-19 defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
1-20 Section 801 et seq.; or
1-21 (B) a dangerous drug, as defined by Chapter 483,
1-22 Health and Safety Code;
1-23 (3) sells, gives, or delivers to another person an
2-1 alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section 1.04, Alcoholic Beverage
2-2 Code, commits a serious act or offense while under the influence of
2-3 alcohol, or possesses, uses, or is under the influence of an
2-4 alcoholic beverage;
2-5 (4) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
2-6 an offense relating to abusable glue or aerosol paint under
2-7 Sections 485.031 through 485.035, Health and Safety Code, or
2-8 relating to volatile chemicals under Chapter 484, Health and Safety
2-9 Code; or
2-10 (5) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
2-11 the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal Code, or
2-12 indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal Code.
2-13 (b) Except as provided by Section 37.007(b)(2) or (c)
2-14 [37.007(c)], a student shall be removed from class and placed in an
2-15 alternative education program under Section 37.008 if the student
2-16 harms or threatens to harm a school employee, officer, or volunteer
2-17 in retaliation for, or on account of, that person's service to the
2-18 school, without regard to whether such conduct occurs on or off
2-19 school property or while attending a school-sponsored or
2-20 school-related activity on or off of school property, or otherwise
2-21 engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of
2-22 retaliation under Section 36.06, Penal Code, against any school
2-23 employee, officer, or volunteer.
2-24 (d) In this section, "volunteer" has the meaning assigned by
2-25 Section 22.053.
3-1 SECTION 2. Section 37.007, Education Code, is amended by
3-2 amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
3-3 follows:
3-4 (b) A student may be expelled if the student:
3-5 (1) [,] after being placed in an alternative
3-6 education program for disciplinary reasons, continues to engage in
3-7 serious or persistent misbehavior that violates the district's
3-8 student code of conduct; or
3-9 (2) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
3-10 the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code,
3-11 against a school employee, officer, or volunteer in retaliation
3-12 for, or on account of, that person's service to the school, without
3-13 regard to whether such conduct occurs on or off school property or
3-14 while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or
3-15 off school property.
3-16 (h) In this section, "volunteer" has the meaning assigned by
3-17 Section 22.053.
3-18 SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 37.010, Education Code,
3-19 is amended to read as follows:
3-20 (b) If a student is expelled under Section 37.007(b)(1)
3-21 [37.007(b)], the board or its designee shall refer the student to
3-22 the authorized officer of the juvenile court for appropriate
3-23 proceedings under Title 3, Family Code.
3-24 SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 22.01, Penal Code, as
3-25 amended by Section 5, Chapter 318, Acts of the 74th Legislature,
4-1 1995, is amended to read as follows:
4-2 (b) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A
4-3 misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of the third
4-4 degree if the offense is committed against a person the actor knows
4-5 is a public servant while the public servant is lawfully
4-6 discharging an official duty, or in retaliation or on account of an
4-7 exercise of official power or performance of an official duty as a
4-8 public servant. In this subsection, "public servant" includes
4-9 public school employees.
4-10 SECTION 5. Subsection (c), Section 22.01, Penal Code, is
4-11 amended to read as follows:
4-12 (c) An offense under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) is a Class C
4-13 misdemeanor, except that the [an] offense [under Subsection (a)(3)]
4-14 is a Class A misdemeanor if the offense was committed against a
4-15 public school employee while the employee was engaged in performing
4-16 duties within the scope of employment or committed in retaliation
4-17 for or on account of the employee's performance of duties within
4-18 the scope of employment or if the offense was committed against an
4-19 elderly individual or disabled individual, as those terms are
4-20 defined by Section 22.04.
4-21 SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 1997-1998
4-22 school year.
4-23 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
4-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-4 passage, and it is so enacted.