By Shapiro S.B. No. 685
75R3470 JD-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the notification of school personnel of the arrest or
1-3 detention of a student and any subsequent disposition of that
1-4 arrest or detention.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Article 15.27,
1-7 Code of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) A law enforcement agency that arrests or takes into
1-9 custody as provided by Chapter 52, Family Code, an individual who
1-10 the agency [knows or] believes is enrolled as a student in a public
1-11 primary or secondary school, for an offense listed in Subsection
1-12 (h) of this article, shall attempt to ascertain whether the person
1-13 is so enrolled. If the law enforcement agency ascertains that the
1-14 individual is enrolled as a student in a public primary or
1-15 secondary school, the agency shall orally notify the superintendent
1-16 or a person designated by the superintendent in the school district
1-17 in which the student is enrolled [or believed to be enrolled] of
1-18 that arrest or detention within 24 hours after the arrest or
1-19 detention, or on the next school day. If the law enforcement
1-20 agency cannot ascertain whether the individual is enrolled as a
1-21 student, the agency shall orally notify the superintendent or a
1-22 person designated by the superintendent in the school district in
1-23 which the student is believed to be enrolled of that arrest or
1-24 detention within 24 hours after the arrest or detention, or on the
2-1 next school day. If the individual is a student, the [The]
2-2 superintendent shall promptly notify all instructional and support
2-3 personnel who have regular contact with the student. All personnel
2-4 shall keep the information received in this subsection
2-5 confidential. The State Board for Educator Certification may
2-6 revoke or suspend the certification of personnel who intentionally
2-7 violate this subsection. Within seven days after the date the oral
2-8 notice is given, the law enforcement agency shall mail written
2-9 notification, marked "PERSONAL and CONFIDENTIAL" on the mailing
2-10 envelope, to the superintendent or the person designated by the
2-11 superintendent. The written notification must have the following
2-12 printed on its face in large, bold letters: "WARNING: The
2-13 information contained in this notice is intended only to inform
2-14 appropriate school personnel of an arrest or detention of a student
2-15 believed to be enrolled in this school. An arrest or detention
2-16 should not be construed as proof that the student is guilty. Guilt
2-17 is determined in a court of law. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS
2-18 NOTICE IS CONFIDENTIAL!"
2-19 (b) On conviction or on an adjudication of delinquent
2-20 conduct of an individual enrolled as a student in a public primary
2-21 or secondary school, for an offense or for any conduct listed in
2-22 Subsection (h) of this article, the office of the prosecuting
2-23 attorney acting in the case shall orally notify the superintendent
2-24 or a person designated by the superintendent in the school district
2-25 in which the student is enrolled of the conviction or adjudication.
2-26 Oral notification must be given within 24 hours of the time of the
2-27 determination of guilt, or on the next school day. The
3-1 superintendent shall promptly notify all instructional and support
3-2 personnel who have regular contact with the student. Within seven
3-3 days after the date the oral notice is given, the office of the
3-4 prosecuting attorney shall mail written notice, which must contain
3-5 a statement of the offense of which the individual is convicted or
3-6 on which the adjudication is grounded.
3-7 (c) A parole or probation office having jurisdiction over a
3-8 student described by Subsection (a), (b), or (e) of this article
3-9 who transfers from a school or is subsequently removed from a
3-10 school and later returned to a school or school district other than
3-11 the one the student was enrolled in when the arrest, detention,
3-12 conviction, or adjudication occurred shall notify the new school
3-13 officials of the arrest or detention in a manner similar to that
3-14 provided for by Subsection (a) or (e)(1) of this article, or of the
3-15 conviction or delinquent adjudication in a manner similar to that
3-16 provided for by Subsection (b) or (e)(2) of this article. The new
3-17 school officials shall promptly notify all instructional and
3-18 support personnel who have regular contact with the student.
3-19 SECTION 2. Article 15.27(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
3-20 repealed.
3-21 SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies
3-22 beginning with the 1997-1998 school year.
3-23 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-1 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-2 passage, and it is so enacted.