1-1     By:  Goodman, Naishtat (Senate Sponsor - Harris)      H.B. No. 2947
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 1999;
 1-3     May 6, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the disposition of children adjudicated as having
 1-9     engaged in delinquent conduct.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 54.04, Family Code, is amended by
1-12     amending Subsection (d) and  adding Subsection (q) to read as
1-13     follows:
1-14           (d)  If the court or jury makes the finding specified in
1-15     Subsection (c) allowing the court to make a disposition in the
1-16     case:
1-17                 (1)  the court or jury may, in addition to any order
1-18     required or authorized under Section 54.041 or 54.042, place the
1-19     child on probation on such reasonable and lawful terms as the court
1-20     may determine:
1-21                       (A)  in his own home or in the custody of a
1-22     relative or other fit person; or
1-23                       (B)  subject to the finding under Subsection (c)
1-24     on the placement of the child outside the child's home, in:
1-25                             (i)  a suitable foster home; or
1-26                             (ii)  a suitable public or private
1-27     institution or agency, except the Texas Youth Commission;
1-28                 (2)  if the court or jury found at the conclusion of
1-29     the adjudication hearing that the child engaged in delinquent
1-30     conduct that violates a penal law of this state or the United
1-31     States of the grade of felony or, if the requirements of
1-32     Subsection (q) are met, of the grade of misdemeanor, and if the
1-33     petition was not approved by the grand jury under Section 53.045,
1-34     the court may commit the child to the Texas Youth  Commission
1-35     without a determinate sentence;
1-36                 (3)  if the court or jury found at the conclusion of
1-37     the adjudication hearing that the child engaged in delinquent
1-38     conduct that included a violation of a penal law listed in Section
1-39     53.045(a) and if the petition was approved by the grand jury under
1-40     Section 53.045, the court or jury may sentence the child to
1-41     commitment in the Texas Youth Commission with a possible transfer
1-42     to the institutional division or the pardons and paroles division
1-43     of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for a term of:
1-44                       (A)  not more than 40 years if the conduct
1-45     constitutes:
1-46                             (i)  a capital felony;
1-47                             (ii)  a felony of the first degree; or
1-48                             (iii)  an aggravated controlled substance
1-49     felony;
1-50                       (B)  not more than 20 years if the conduct
1-51     constitutes a felony of the second degree; or
1-52                       (C)  not more than 10 years if the conduct
1-53     constitutes a felony of the third degree;
1-54                 (4)  the court may assign the child an appropriate
1-55     sanction level and sanctions as provided by the assignment
1-56     guidelines in Section 59.003; or
1-57                 (5)  if applicable, the court or jury may make a
1-58     disposition under Subsection (m).
1-59           (q)  The court may make a disposition under Subsection (d)(2)
1-60     for delinquent conduct that violates a penal law of the grade of
1-61     misdemeanor if:
1-62                 (1)  the child has been adjudicated as having engaged
1-63     in delinquent conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony
1-64     or misdemeanor on at least two previous occasions;
 2-1                 (2)  of the previous adjudications, the conduct that
 2-2     was the basis for one of the adjudications occurred after the date
 2-3     of another previous adjudication; and
 2-4                 (3)  the conduct that is the basis of the current
 2-5     adjudication occurred after the date of at least two previous
 2-6     adjudications.
 2-7           SECTION 2.  Chapter 54, Family Code, is amended by adding
 2-8     Section 54.0406 to read as follows:
 2-9           Sec. 54.0406.  CHILD PLACED IN COUNTY DETENTION FACILITY AS
2-10     CONDITION OF PROBATION.  (a)  If a court or jury makes a
2-11     disposition under Section 54.04(d)(1) in which a child is placed on
2-12     probation, the court may, as a condition of the probation, place
2-13     the child for not more than 30 days in a certified juvenile
2-14     detention or correctional facility operated by or under contract
2-15     with the county in which the disposition is made.  The court may
2-16     place the child in a detention facility at the time the court makes
2-17     the disposition placing the child on probation or at any time
2-18     during the period of probation in an order to modify the
2-19     disposition under Section 54.05.
2-20           (b)  A court may place a child in a certified juvenile
2-21     detention or correctional facility as provided by Subsection (a)
2-22     more than once during the same period of probation, except that the
2-23     total amount of time that the child is placed in a detention
2-24     facility may not exceed 30 days.
2-25           SECTION 3.  Section 54.05, Family Code, is amended by
2-26     amending Subsections (f) and (g) and adding Subsection (j) to read
2-27     as follows:
2-28           (f)  A disposition based on a finding that the child engaged
2-29     in delinquent conduct that violates a penal law of this state or
2-30     the United States of the grade of felony or, if the requirements of
2-31     Subsection (j) are met, of the grade of misdemeanor, may be
2-32     modified so as to commit the child to the Texas Youth Commission if
2-33     the court after a hearing to modify disposition finds by a
2-34     preponderance of the evidence that the child violated a reasonable
2-35     and lawful order of the court.  A disposition based on a finding
2-36     that the child engaged in habitual felony conduct as described by
2-37     Section 51.031 of this code or in delinquent conduct that included
2-38     a violation of a penal law listed in Section 53.045(a) of this code
2-39     may be modified to commit the child to the Texas Youth Commission
2-40     with a possible transfer to the institutional division or the
2-41     pardons and paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal
2-42     Justice for a definite term prescribed by Section 54.04(d)(3) of
2-43     this code if the original petition was approved by the grand jury
2-44     under Section 53.045 of this code and if after a hearing to modify
2-45     the disposition the court or jury finds that the child violated a
2-46     reasonable and lawful order of the court.
2-47           (g)  A disposition based solely on a finding that the child
2-48     engaged in conduct indicating a need for supervision may not be
2-49     modified to commit the child to the Texas Youth Commission.  A new
2-50     finding in compliance with Section 54.03 of this code must be made
2-51     that the child engaged in delinquent conduct that meets the
2-52     requirements for commitment under Section 54.04 [as defined in
2-53     Section 51.03(a) of this code].
2-54           (j)  The court may modify a disposition under Subsection (f)
2-55     that is based on a finding that the child engaged in delinquent
2-56     conduct that violates a penal law of the grade of misdemeanor if:
2-57                 (1)  the child has been adjudicated as having engaged
2-58     in delinquent conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony
2-59     or misdemeanor on at least three previous occasions; and
2-60                 (2)  of the previous adjudications, the conduct that
2-61     was the basis for the adjudications occurred:
2-62                       (A)  for one adjudication, after the date of two
2-63     other previous adjudications; and
2-64                       (B)  for another adjudication, after the date of
2-65     one other previous adjudication.
2-66           SECTION 4.  (a)  The change in law made by Section 54.0406,
2-67     Family Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a child placed
2-68     on probation for conduct that occurs on or after the effective date
2-69     of this Act.  Conduct violating a penal law of this state occurs on
 3-1     or after the effective date of this Act if every element of the
 3-2     violation occurs on or after that date.
 3-3           (b)  A child placed on probation for conduct that occurs
 3-4     before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
 3-5     effect at the time the conduct occurred, and the former law is
 3-6     continued in effect for that purpose.
 3-7           SECTION 5.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 3-8           (b)  This Act applies only to conduct that occurs on or after
 3-9     the effective date of this Act.  Conduct violating the penal law of
3-10     this state occurs on or after the effective date of this Act if all
3-11     elements of the violation occur on or after that date.
3-12           (c)  Conduct that occurs before the effective date of this
3-13     Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the conduct
3-14     occurred, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-15           SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-16     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-17     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-18     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-19     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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