1-1     By:  Ogden                                             S.B. No. 447
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 9, 1999; February 10, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
 1-4     April 19, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 19, 1999,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 447               By:  Armbrister
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to requiring as a condition of release of a child by the
1-11     Texas Youth Commission that the child obtain a mandatory
1-12     educational skill level.
1-13           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14           SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 61, Human Resources Code,
1-15     is amended by adding Section 61.085 to read as follows:
1-16           Sec. 61.085.  EDUCATIONAL SKILL LEVEL.  (a)  Before releasing
1-17     a child under supervision, the commission shall determine whether
1-18     the child has reached the following mandatory educational skill
1-19     level:
1-20                 (1)  an educational skill level equal to or greater
1-21     than the average skill level of a child of the same age; or
1-22                 (2)  a high school diploma or graduate equivalency
1-23     diploma.
1-24           (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), if the commission
1-25     determines that the child has not reached the mandatory educational
1-26     skill level, the commission may not release the child under
1-27     supervision.
1-28           (c)  The commission may waive the requirement of this section
1-29     for a child if the commission determines that the child lacks the
1-30     intellectual capacity or the learning ability to ever achieve the
1-31     appropriate mandatory educational skill level.
1-32           (d)  The commission may waive the requirement of this section
1-33     in whole or in part if the commission determines that, considering
1-34     the number of children to which the requirement applies, the
1-35     resources of the commission are insufficient to implement this
1-36     section.
1-37           (e)  If the commission waives the requirement of this section
1-38     in whole or in part under Subsection (d), the commission may
1-39     release under supervision a child who the commission has determined
1-40     has not reached the mandatory educational skill level if the
1-41     commission requires as a condition of the release that the child
1-42     attain that level.
1-43           SECTION 2.  If the Texas Youth Commission determines under
1-44     Subsection (d), Section 61.085, Human Resources Code, as added by
1-45     this Act, to waive the requirement that children obtain a mandatory
1-46     skill level as a condition of release, the commission:
1-47                 (1)  must make that determination on or before December
1-48     1, 2000; and
1-49                 (2)  shall submit a report to the governor, the
1-50     Legislative Budget Board, and the Criminal Justice Policy Council
1-51     on or before December 1, 2000, stating the number of children
1-52     affected by the waiver and the resources that would be required for
1-53     full implementation of Section 61.085, Human Resources Code, as
1-54     added by this Act.
1-55           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
1-56     applies to any child released under supervision by the Texas Youth
1-57     Commission on or after that date, without regard to whether the
1-58     child is committed to the commission before, on, or after that
1-59     date.
1-60           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-61     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-62     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-63     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-64     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
 2-1                                  * * * * *