AN ACT
1-1 relating to sex offender civil commitment and registration and to
1-2 provisions of the sex offender registration law for which a person
1-3 who is in noncompliance commits a criminal offense.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Article 62.02, Code of Criminal
1-6 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) A person who has a reportable conviction or adjudication
1-8 or who is required to register as a condition of parole, release to
1-9 mandatory supervision, or community supervision shall register or,
1-10 if the person is a person for whom registration is completed under
1-11 this chapter, verify registration as provided by Subsection (d),
1-12 with the local law enforcement authority in any municipality where
1-13 the person resides or intends to reside for more than seven days.
1-14 If the person does not reside or intend to reside in a
1-15 municipality, the person shall register or verify registration in
1-16 any county where the person resides or intends to reside for more
1-17 than seven days. The person shall satisfy the requirements of this
1-18 subsection not later than the seventh day after the person's
1-19 arrival in the municipality or county.
1-20 SECTION 2. Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added
1-21 by Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session,
1-22 1997, is amended by adding Article 62.021 to read as follows:
1-23 Art. 62.021. OUT-OF-STATE REGISTRANTS. (a) This article
1-24 applies to a person who is required to register as a sex offender
2-1 under the laws of another state with which the department has
2-2 entered into a reciprocal registration agreement and who is not
2-3 otherwise required to register under this chapter because:
2-4 (1) the person does not have a reportable conviction
2-5 for an offense under the laws of the other state containing
2-6 elements that are substantially similar to an offense requiring
2-7 registration under this chapter; or
2-8 (2) the person does not have a reportable adjudication
2-9 of delinquent conduct based on a violation of an offense under the
2-10 laws of the other state containing elements that are substantially
2-11 similar to an offense requiring registration under this chapter.
2-12 (b) A person described by Subsection (a) is required to
2-13 comply with the annual verification requirements of Article 62.06
2-14 in the same manner as is a person who is required to verify
2-15 registration on the basis of a reportable conviction or
2-16 adjudication.
2-17 (c) The expiration of the duty to register for a person
2-18 described by Subsection (a) expires on the date the person's duty
2-19 to register would expire in the other state had the person remained
2-20 in that state.
2-21 (d) The department may negotiate and enter into a reciprocal
2-22 registration agreement with any other state to prevent residents of
2-23 this state and residents of the other state from frustrating the
2-24 public purpose of the registration of sex offenders by moving from
2-25 one state to the other.
2-26 SECTION 3. Subsection (e), Article 62.03, Code of Criminal
3-1 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
3-2 (e) Not later than the eighth day after receiving a
3-3 registration form under Subsection (b), (c), or (d), the local law
3-4 enforcement authority shall verify the age of the victim, the age
3-5 of the person subject to registration, and the basis on which the
3-6 person is subject to registration under this chapter. If the
3-7 victim is a child younger than 17 years of age and the basis on
3-8 which the person is subject to registration is not an adjudication
3-9 of delinquent conduct and is not a conviction or a deferred
3-10 adjudication for an offense under Section 25.02, Penal Code, the
3-11 authority shall immediately publish notice in English and Spanish
3-12 in the newspaper of greatest paid circulation in the county in
3-13 which the person subject to registration intends to reside or, if
3-14 there is no newspaper of paid circulation in that county, in the
3-15 newspaper of greatest general circulation in the county. The
3-16 authority shall publish a duplicate notice in the newspaper, with
3-17 any necessary corrections, during the week immediately following
3-18 the week of initial publication. If the victim is a child younger
3-19 than 17 years of age or the person subject to registration is 17
3-20 years of age or older and a student enrolled in a public or private
3-21 secondary school, regardless of the basis on which the person is
3-22 subject to registration, the authority shall immediately provide
3-23 notice to the superintendent of the public school district and to
3-24 the administrator of any private primary or secondary school
3-25 located in the public school district in which the person subject
3-26 to registration intends to reside by mail to the office of the
4-1 superintendent or administrator, as appropriate.
4-2 SECTION 4. Subsections (a) and (f), Article 62.04, Code of
4-3 Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
4-4 (a) If a person required to register intends to change
4-5 address, regardless of whether the person intends to move to
4-6 another state, the person shall, not later than the seventh day
4-7 before the intended change, report in person to the local law
4-8 enforcement authority with whom the person last registered and to
4-9 the juvenile probation officer, community supervision and
4-10 corrections department officer, or parole officer supervising the
4-11 person and provide the authority and the officer with the person's
4-12 anticipated move date and new address. If a person required to
4-13 register changes address, the person shall, not later than the
4-14 seventh day after changing the address, report in person to the
4-15 local law enforcement authority in the municipality or county in
4-16 which the person's new residence is located and provide the
4-17 authority with proof of identity and proof of residence.
4-18 (f) If the person moves to another municipality or county in
4-19 this state, the department shall inform the applicable local law
4-20 enforcement authority in the new area of the person's residence not
4-21 later than the third day after the date on which the department
4-22 receives information under Subsection (a). Not later than the
4-23 eighth day after the date on which the local law enforcement
4-24 authority is informed under Subsection (a) or under this
4-25 subsection, the authority shall verify the age of the victim, the
4-26 age of the person subject to registration, and the basis on which
5-1 the person is subject to registration under this chapter. If the
5-2 victim is a child younger than 17 years of age and the basis on
5-3 which the person is subject to registration is not an adjudication
5-4 of delinquent conduct and is not a conviction or a deferred
5-5 adjudication for an offense under Section 25.02, Penal Code, the
5-6 authority shall immediately publish notice in English and Spanish
5-7 in the newspaper of greatest paid circulation in the county in
5-8 which the person subject to registration intends to reside or, if
5-9 there is no newspaper of paid circulation in that county, in the
5-10 newspaper of greatest general circulation in the county. The local
5-11 law enforcement authority shall publish a duplicate notice in the
5-12 newspaper, with any necessary corrections, during the week
5-13 immediately following the week of initial publication. If the
5-14 victim is a child younger than 17 years of age or the person
5-15 subject to registration is 17 years of age or older and a student
5-16 enrolled in a public or private secondary school, regardless of the
5-17 basis on which the person is subject to registration, the authority
5-18 shall immediately provide notice to the superintendent of the
5-19 public school district and to the administrator of any private
5-20 primary or secondary school located in the public school district
5-21 in which the person subject to registration intends to reside by
5-22 mail to the office of the superintendent or administrator, as
5-23 appropriate.
5-24 SECTION 5. (a) Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
5-25 added by Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
5-26 Session, 1997, is amended by adding Article 62.0451 to read as
6-1 follows:
6-2 Art. 62.0451. ADDITIONAL PUBLIC NOTICE FOR INDIVIDUALS
6-3 SUBJECT TO CIVIL COMMITMENT. (a) On receipt of notice under this
6-4 chapter that a person subject to registration who is civilly
6-5 committed as a sexually violent predator is due to be released from
6-6 a penal institution or intends to move to a new residence in this
6-7 state, the department shall, not later than the seventh day after
6-8 the date on which the person is released or the 10th day after the
6-9 date on which the person moves, provide written notice mailed or
6-10 delivered to at least each residential address within a one-mile
6-11 radius, in an area that has not been subdivided, or a three-block
6-12 area, in an area that has been subdivided, of the place where the
6-13 person intends to reside.
6-14 (b) The department shall include in the notice any
6-15 information that is public information under this chapter. The
6-16 department may not include any information that is not public
6-17 information under this chapter.
6-18 (c) The department shall establish procedures for a person
6-19 with respect to whom notice is provided under this article to pay
6-20 to the department all costs incurred by the department in providing
6-21 the notice. The person shall pay those costs in accordance with
6-22 the procedures established under this subsection.
6-23 (d) The department's duty to provide notice under this
6-24 article in regard to a particular person ends on the date on which
6-25 a court releases the person from all requirements of the civil
6-26 commitment process.
7-1 (b) Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by
7-2 Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
7-3 is amended by adding Article 62.061 to read as follows:
7-4 Art. 62.061. VERIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALS SUBJECT TO
7-5 COMMITMENT. (a) Notwithstanding Article 62.06, if an individual
7-6 subject to registration under this chapter is civilly committed as
7-7 a sexually violent predator, the person shall report to the local
7-8 law enforcement authority with whom the person is required to
7-9 register not less than once in each 30-day period following the
7-10 date the person first registered under this chapter to verify the
7-11 information in the registration form maintained by the authority
7-12 for that person. For purposes of this subsection, a person
7-13 complies with a requirement that the person register within a
7-14 30-day period following a date if the person registers at any time
7-15 on or after the 27th day following that date but before the 33rd
7-16 day after that date.
7-17 (b) On the date that a court releases a person described by
7-18 Subsection (a) from all requirements of the civil commitment
7-19 process:
7-20 (1) the person's duty to verify registration as a sex
7-21 offender is no longer imposed by this article; and
7-22 (2) the person is required to verify registration as
7-23 provided by Article 62.06.
7-24 (c) Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by
7-25 Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
7-26 is amended by adding Article 62.101 to read as follows:
8-1 Art. 62.101. FAILURE TO COMPLY: INDIVIDUALS SUBJECT TO
8-2 COMMITMENT. (a) A person commits an offense if the person, after
8-3 commitment as a sexually violent predator but before the person is
8-4 released from all requirements of the civil commitment process,
8-5 fails to comply with any requirement of this chapter.
8-6 (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
8-7 degree.
8-8 (d) Articles 62.0451, 62.061, and 62.101, Code of Criminal
8-9 Procedure, as added by this section, take effect on January 1,
8-10 2000, but only if an Act of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session,
8-11 1999, establishing a process for the civil commitment of sex
8-12 offenders becomes law before that date. If an Act of the 76th
8-13 Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, relating to establishing a
8-14 process for the civil commitment of sex offenders does not become
8-15 law before January 1, 2000, Articles 62.0451, 62.061, and 62.101,
8-16 as added by this section, have no effect.
8-17 SECTION 6. Article 62.05, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
8-18 amended to read as follows:
8-19 Art. 62.05. STATUS REPORT BY SUPERVISING OFFICER. (a) If
8-20 the juvenile probation officer, community supervision and
8-21 corrections department officer, or parole officer supervising a
8-22 person subject to registration under this chapter receives
8-23 information to the effect that the person's status has changed in
8-24 any manner that affects proper supervision of the person, including
8-25 a change in the person's physical health, job status,
8-26 incarceration, or terms of release, the supervising officer shall
9-1 promptly notify the appropriate local law enforcement authority or
9-2 authorities of that change. If the person required to register
9-3 intends to change address, the person's supervising officer shall
9-4 notify the local law enforcement authorities designated by Article
9-5 62.04(b).
9-6 (b) If a person required to register is not supervised by an
9-7 officer listed in Subsection (a), the person shall report to the
9-8 local law enforcement authority any change in the person's physical
9-9 health or job status not later than the seventh day after the date
9-10 of the change. For purposes of this subsection, a person's job
9-11 status changes if the person leaves employment for any reason,
9-12 remains employed by an employer but changes the location at which
9-13 the person works, or begins employment with a new employer. For
9-14 purposes of this subsection, a person's health status changes if
9-15 the person is hospitalized as a result of an illness.
9-16 SECTION 7. Subsections (a) and (b), Article 62.06, Code of
9-17 Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
9-18 (a) A person subject to registration under this chapter who
9-19 has on two or more occasions been convicted of or received an order
9-20 of deferred adjudication for a sexually violent offense shall
9-21 report to the local law enforcement authority with whom the person
9-22 is required to register not less than once in each 90-day period
9-23 following the date the person first registered under this chapter
9-24 to verify the information in the registration form maintained by
9-25 the authority for that person. A person subject to registration
9-26 under this chapter who is not subject to the 90-day reporting
10-1 requirement described by this subsection shall report to the local
10-2 law enforcement authority with whom the person is required to
10-3 register once each year not earlier than the 30th day before and
10-4 not later than the 30th day after the anniversary of the person's
10-5 date of birth [on which the person first registered under this
10-6 chapter] to verify the information in the registration form
10-7 maintained by the authority for that person. For purposes of this
10-8 subsection, a person complies with a requirement that the person
10-9 register within a 90-day period following a date if the person
10-10 registers at any time on or after the 83rd day following that date
10-11 but before the 98th day after that date.
10-12 (b) A local law enforcement authority with whom a person is
10-13 required to register under this chapter may direct the person to
10-14 report to the authority to verify the information in the
10-15 registration form maintained by the authority for that person. The
10-16 authority may direct the person to report under this subsection
10-17 once in each 90-day period following the date the person first
10-18 registered under this chapter, if the person is required to report
10-19 not less than once in each 90-day period under Subsection (a) [has
10-20 on two or more occasions been convicted of or received an order of
10-21 deferred adjudication for a sexually violent offense,] or[, if
10-22 not,] once in each year not earlier than the 30th day before and
10-23 not later than the 30th day after the anniversary of the person's
10-24 date of birth, if the person is required to report once each year
10-25 under Subsection (a) [on which the person first registered under
10-26 this chapter]. A local law enforcement authority may not direct a
11-1 person to report to the authority under this subsection if the
11-2 person is required to report under Subsection (a) and is in
11-3 compliance with the reporting requirements of that subsection.
11-4 SECTION 8. Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added
11-5 by Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session,
11-6 1997, is amended by adding Article 62.062 to read as follows:
11-7 Art. 62.062. REGISTRATION OF PERSONS REGULARLY VISITING
11-8 LOCATION. (a) A person subject to this chapter who on at least
11-9 three occasions during any month spends more than 48 consecutive
11-10 hours in a municipality or county in this state, other than the
11-11 municipality or county in which the person is registered under this
11-12 chapter, before the last day of that month shall report that fact
11-13 to:
11-14 (1) the local law enforcement authority of the
11-15 municipality in which the person is a visitor; or
11-16 (2) if the person is a visitor in a location that is
11-17 not a municipality, the local law enforcement authority of the
11-18 county in which the person is a visitor.
11-19 (b) A person described by Subsection (a) shall provide the
11-20 local law enforcement authority with:
11-21 (1) all information the person is required to provide
11-22 under Article 62.02(b);
11-23 (2) the address of any location in the municipality or
11-24 county, as appropriate, at which the person was lodged during the
11-25 month; and
11-26 (3) a statement as to whether the person intends to
12-1 return to the municipality or county during the succeeding month.
12-2 (c) This article does not impose on a local law enforcement
12-3 authority requirements of public notification or notification to
12-4 schools relating to a person about whom the authority is not
12-5 otherwise required by this chapter to make notifications.
12-6 SECTION 9. Subsections (b) and (c), Article 62.10, Code of
12-7 Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
12-8 (b) An offense under this article is:
12-9 (1) a state jail felony if the actor is a person whose
12-10 duty to register expires under Article 62.12(b);
12-11 (2) a felony of the third degree if the actor is a
12-12 person whose duty to register expires under Article 62.12(a) and
12-13 who is required to verify registration once each year under Article
12-14 62.06; and
12-15 (3) a felony of the second degree if the actor is a
12-16 person whose duty to register expires under Article 62.12(a) and
12-17 who is required to verify registration once each 90-day period
12-18 under Article 62.06.
12-19 (c) If it is shown at the trial of a person for an offense
12-20 under this article that the person has previously been convicted of
12-21 an offense under this article, the punishment for the offense is
12-22 increased to the punishment for the next highest degree of felony
12-23 [person shall be punished for a felony of the third degree].
12-24 SECTION 10. (a) To accomplish the change in law made by
12-25 this Act to Subsections (a) and (b), Article 62.06, Code of
12-26 Criminal Procedure, relating to persons required to report to local
13-1 law enforcement once in each year, the local law enforcement
13-2 authority with whom a person verifies registration by reporting to
13-3 the authority not earlier than the 30th day before and not later
13-4 than the 30th day after the anniversary of the date on which the
13-5 person first registered with the authority shall inform the person
13-6 that on the next occasion and each succeeding occasion on which the
13-7 person verifies registration the person must comply with
13-8 Subsections (a) and (b), Article 62.06, Code of Criminal Procedure,
13-9 as amended by this Act.
13-10 (b) The change in law to which this section applies does not
13-11 affect the validity of any action taken by a person to verify
13-12 registration before the person is provided an opportunity to be
13-13 informed of the change in law made by this Act as required by this
13-14 section.
13-15 SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
13-16 SECTION 12. The importance of this legislation and the
13-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
13-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
13-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
13-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1224 passed the Senate on
May 6, 1999, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1224 passed the House on
May 26, 1999, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor