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.
3-20 * * * * *