Amend HB 1269 as follows:
(1) On page 2, line 5, between "until" and "a", insert "the
child is released by order of the juvenile court or by other
communication by the judge of the juvenile court, a substitute
judge authorized by Section 51.04(f), or a referee appointed under
Section 51.04(g), including by telephone, or until".
(2) Insert the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS and
renumber the SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____. Sections 51.04(f) and (g), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(f) If the judge of the juvenile court or any alternate
judge named under Subsection (b) or (c) <of this section> is not in
the county or is otherwise unavailable, any magistrate may make a
determination under Section 53.02(f) or may conduct the detention
hearing provided for in Section 54.01 <of this code>.
(g) The juvenile board, or if there is no juvenile board,
the juvenile court, may appoint a referee to make determinations
under Section 53.02(f) or to conduct hearings under this title <and
in accordance with Section 54.10 of this code>. The referee shall
be an attorney licensed to practice law in this state and shall
comply with Section 54.10. Payment of any referee services shall
be provided from county funds.
SECTION ____. Section 51.12, Family Code, as amended by
Chapters 772 and 1374, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1997, is amended and reenacted to read as follows:
Sec. 51.12. PLACE AND CONDITIONS OF DETENTION. (a) Except
as provided by Subsection (h), a child may be detained only in a:
(1) juvenile processing office in compliance with
Section 52.025;
(2) place of nonsecure custody in compliance with
Section 52.027;
(3) certified juvenile detention facility that
complies with the requirements of Subsection (f); <or>
(4) secure detention facility as provided by
Subsection (j); or
(5) county jail or other facility as provided by
Subsection (l) <(i)>.
(b) The proper authorities in each county shall provide a
suitable place of detention for children who are parties to
proceedings under this title, but the juvenile court shall control
the conditions and terms of detention and detention supervision and
shall permit visitation with the child at all reasonable times.
(c) In each county, each judge of the juvenile court and the
members of the juvenile board shall personally inspect the juvenile
pre-adjudication secure detention facilities and any public or
private juvenile secure correctional facilities used for
post-adjudication confinement that are located in the county and
operated under authority of the juvenile board at least annually
and shall certify in writing to the authorities responsible for
operating and giving financial support to the facilities and to the
Texas Juvenile Probation Commission that they are suitable or
unsuitable for the detention of children in accordance with:
(1) the requirements of Subsections (a), (f), and (g);
and
(2) minimum professional standards for the detention
of children in pre-adjudication or post-adjudication secure
confinement promulgated by the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission
or, at the election of the juvenile board, the current standards
promulgated by the American Correctional Association.
(d) Except as provided by Subsections (j) and (l)
<Subsection (i)>, a child may not be placed in a facility that has
not been certified under Subsection (c) as suitable for the
detention of children and registered under Subsection (i) <of this
section>. Except as provided by Subsections (j) and (l)
<Subsection (i)>, a child detained in a facility that has not been
certified under Subsection (c) as suitable for the detention of
children or that has not been registered under Subsection (i) <of
this section> shall be entitled to immediate release from custody
in that facility.
(e) If there is no certified place of detention in the
county in which the petition is filed, the designated place of
detention may be in another county.
(f) A child detained in a building that contains a jail,
lockup, or other place of secure confinement, including an alcohol
or other drug treatment facility, shall be separated by sight and
sound from adults detained in the same building. Children and
adults are separated by sight and sound only if they are unable to
see each other and conversation between them is not possible. The
separation must extend to all areas of the facility, including
sally ports and passageways, and those areas used for admission,
counseling, sleeping, toileting, showering, dining, recreational,
educational, or vocational activities, and health care. The
separation may be accomplished through architectural design.
(g) Except for a child detained in a juvenile processing
office, a place of nonsecure custody, <or> a secure detention
facility as provided by Subsection (j), or a facility as provided
by Subsection (l) <(i)>, a child detained in a building that
contains a jail or lockup may not have any contact with:
(1) part-time or full-time security staff, including
management, who have contact with adults detained in the same
building; or
(2) direct-care staff who have contact with adults
detained in the same building.
(h) This section does not apply to a person:
(1) after transfer to criminal court for prosecution
under Section 54.02; or
(2) who is at least 18 years of age and who has been
taken into custody after having:
(A) escaped from a juvenile facility; or
(B) violated a condition of probation or of
release under supervision of the Texas Youth Commission.
(i) Except for a facility operated or certified by the Texas
Youth Commission or a facility as provided by Subsection (l), a
governmental unit or private entity that operates or contracts for
the operation of a juvenile pre-adjudication secure detention
facility or a juvenile post-adjudication secure correctional
facility in this state shall:
(1) register the facility annually with the Texas
Juvenile Probation Commission; and
(2) adhere to all applicable minimum standards for the
facility.
(j) <(i)> After being taken into custody, a child may be
detained in a secure detention facility until the child is released
under Section 53.01, 53.012, or 53.02 or until a detention hearing
is held under Section 54.01(a), regardless of whether the facility
has been certified under Subsection (c), if:
(1) a certified juvenile detention facility is not
available in the county in which the child is taken into custody;
(2) the detention facility complies with:
(A) the short-term detention standards adopted
by the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission; and
(B) the requirements of Subsection (f); and
(3) the detention facility has been designated by the
county juvenile board for the county in which the facility is
located.
(k) <(j)> If a child who is detained under Subsection (j) or
(l) <(i)> is not released from detention at the conclusion of the
detention hearing for a reason stated in Section 54.01(e), the
child may be detained after the hearing only in a certified
juvenile detention facility.
(l) A child who is taken into custody and required to be
detained under Section 53.02(f) may be detained in a county jail or
other facility until the child is released under Section 53.02(f)
or until a detention hearing is held under Section 54.01,
regardless of whether the facility complies with the requirements
of this section, if:
(1) a certified juvenile detention facility or a
secure detention facility described by Subsection (j) is not
available in the county in which the child is taken into custody;
(2) the facility has been designated by the county
juvenile board for the county in which the facility is located;
(3) the child is separated by sight and sound from
adults detained in the same facility through architectural design
or time-phasing; and
(4) the child does not have any contact with
management or direct-care staff that has contact with adults
detained in the same facility on the same work shift.
SECTION ____. Section 54.10, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 54.10. HEARINGS BEFORE REFEREE. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (e) <(c) of this section>, the hearing
provided in Sections 54.01, 54.03, 54.04, and 54.05 <of this code>
and the hearing provided in Article IV, Article V, and Article VI
of the Uniform Interstate Compact on Juveniles (Chapter 25 <of this
code>) may be held by a referee appointed in accordance with
Section 51.04(g) <of this code> provided:
(1) the parties have been informed by the referee that
they are entitled to have the hearing before the juvenile court
judge or in the case of a detention hearing provided for in Section
54.01 <of this code>, a substitute judge as authorized by Section
51.04(f) <of this code>; or
(2) the child and the attorney for the child have in
accordance with the requirements of Section 51.09 <of this code>
waived the right to have the hearing before the juvenile court
judge or substitute judge.
(b) The determination under Section 53.02(f) whether to
release a child may be made by a referee appointed in accordance
with Section 51.04(g) if:
(1) the child has been informed by the referee that
the child is entitled to have the determination made by the
juvenile court judge or a substitute judge authorized by Section
51.04(f); or
(2) the child and the attorney for the child have in
accordance with Section 51.09 waived the right to have the
determination made by the juvenile court judge or a substitute
judge.
(c) If a child objects to a referee making the determination
under Section 53.02(f), the juvenile court judge or a substitute
judge authorized by Section 51.04(f) shall make the determination.
(d) At the conclusion of the hearing or immediately after
making the determination, the referee shall transmit written
findings and recommendations to the juvenile court judge. The
juvenile court judge shall adopt, modify, or reject the referee's
recommendations not later than the next working day after the day
that the judge receives the recommendations. Failure to act within
that time results in release of the child by operation of law and a
recommendation that the child be released operates to secure the
child's <his> immediate release subject to the power of the
juvenile court judge to modify or reject that recommendation.
(e) <(c)> The hearings provided by Sections 54.03, 54.04,
and 54.05 <of this code> may not be held before a referee if the
grand jury has approved of the petition and the child is subject to
a determinate sentence.