By:  Ogden                                             S.B. No. 447
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to requiring as a condition of release of a child by the
 1-2     Texas Youth Commission that the child obtain a mandatory
 1-3     educational skill level.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 61, Human Resources Code,
 1-6     is amended by adding Section 61.085 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 61.085.  EDUCATIONAL SKILL LEVEL.  (a)  Before releasing
 1-8     a child under supervision, the commission shall determine whether
 1-9     the child has reached the following mandatory educational skill
1-10     level:
1-11                 (1)  an educational skill level equal to or greater
1-12     than the average skill level of a child of the same age; or
1-13                 (2)  a high school diploma or graduate equivalency
1-14     diploma.
1-15           (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), if the commission
1-16     determines that the child has not reached the mandatory educational
1-17     skill level, the commission may not release the child under
1-18     supervision.
1-19           (c)  The commission may waive the requirement of this section
1-20     for a child if the commission determines that the child lacks the
1-21     intellectual capacity or the learning ability to ever achieve the
1-22     appropriate mandatory educational skill level.
1-23           (d)  The commission may waive the requirement of this section
1-24     in whole or in part if the commission determines that, considering
 2-1     the number of children to which the requirement applies, the
 2-2     resources of the commission are insufficient to implement this
 2-3     section.
 2-4           (e)  If the commission waives the requirement of this section
 2-5     in whole or in part under Subsection (d), the commission may
 2-6     release under supervision a child who the commission has determined
 2-7     has not reached the mandatory educational skill level if the
 2-8     commission requires as a condition of the release that the child
 2-9     attain that level.
2-10           SECTION 2.  If the Texas Youth Commission determines under
2-11     Subsection (d), Section 61.085, Human Resources Code, as added by
2-12     this Act, to waive the requirement that children obtain a mandatory
2-13     skill level as a condition of release, the commission:
2-14                 (1)  must make that determination on or before December
2-15     1, 2000; and
2-16                 (2)  shall submit a report to the governor, the
2-17     Legislative Budget Board, and the Criminal Justice Policy Council
2-18     on or before December 1, 2000, stating the number of children
2-19     affected by the waiver and the resources that would be required for
2-20     full implementation of Section 61.085, Human Resources Code, as
2-21     added by this Act.
2-22           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-23     applies to any child released under supervision by the Texas Youth
2-24     Commission on or after that date, without regard to whether the
2-25     child is committed to the commission before, on, or after that
2-26     date.
 3-1           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-2     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 3-3     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-4     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-5     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.