By: West S.B. No. 1572
99S0457/1
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the compulsory school attendance laws and
1-2 responsibility for compliance with those laws; providing penalties.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 1, Article 45.22, Code of Criminal
1-5 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 1. No person shall ever be tried in any justice
1-7 precinct court unless the offense with which he was charged was
1-8 committed in such precinct with the exception of truancy or failure
1-9 to attend school, which may be referred to a justice court in any
1-10 precinct in the county in which the parent resides or in which the
1-11 school is located. Provided, however, should there be no duly
1-12 qualified justice precinct court in the precinct where such offense
1-13 was committed, then the defendant shall be tried in the justice
1-14 precinct next adjacent which may have a duly qualified justice
1-15 court. And provided further, that if the justice of the peace of
1-16 the precinct in which the offense was committed is disqualified for
1-17 any reason for trying the case, then such defendant may be tried in
1-18 some other justice precinct within the county.
1-19 SECTION 2. Subsection (f), Section 25.002, Education Code,
1-20 is amended to read as follows:
1-21 (f) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, for a
1-22 child to be enrolled in a public school, the child must be enrolled
1-23 by the child's parent, [or by] the child's guardian or other person
1-24 with legal control of the child under a court order, or the child's
2-1 custodian. Proof that the person enrolling the child is the
2-2 child's parent, guardian, or custodian must be provided at the time
2-3 of enrollment by presentation of a driver's license, social
2-4 security card, or other valid legal document.
2-5 SECTION 3. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 25.093,
2-6 Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-7 (a) If any parent of a child required to attend school fails
2-8 to require the child to attend school as required by law, after the
2-9 school has previously warned [attendance officer shall warn] the
2-10 parent [in writing] that it is the parent's duty to monitor the
2-11 child's school attendance and to require the child to attend
2-12 school, the parent is subject to prosecution under Subsection (b)
2-13 for failure to comply with school attendance requirements [is
2-14 immediately required].
2-15 (b) If, after being previously warned as described by [a
2-16 warning under] Subsection (a), the parent with criminal intent
2-17 [negligence] fails to require the child to attend school as
2-18 required by law [and the child has unexcused voluntary absences for
2-19 the amount of time specified under Section 51.03(b)(2), Family
2-20 Code], the parent commits an offense.
2-21 (c) The attendance officer shall file a complaint against
2-22 the parent in the county court, in a justice court in any precinct
2-23 in the county in which the parent resides or in which the school is
2-24 located, or in a municipal court of the municipality in which the
2-25 parent resides or in which the school is located. The attendance
2-26 officer shall file a complaint under this section in the court to
3-1 which the parent's child has been referred for engaging in conduct
3-2 described in Section 51.03(b)(2), Family Code, if a referral has
3-3 been made for the child. [If a referral has not been made, the
3-4 attendance officer shall refer the child to the county juvenile
3-5 probation department for action as engaging in conduct indicating a
3-6 need for supervision under that section.]
3-7 SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 25.094, Education Code,
3-8 is amended to read as follows:
3-9 (b) An offense under this section may be prosecuted in a
3-10 justice court in any precinct in the county in which the child
3-11 resides or in which the school is located or in a municipal court
3-12 in the municipality in which the child resides or in which the
3-13 school is located.
3-14 SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 25.095, Education Code,
3-15 is amended to read as follows:
3-16 (a) A school district shall notify a student's parent or
3-17 legal guardian in writing at the beginning of the school year that
3-18 if[, in a six-month period,] the student is [has been] absent from
3-19 school three days or parts of days within a four-week period
3-20 without parental consent or [an excuse five times for any part of
3-21 the day. The notice must state that if the student is absent
3-22 without an excuse for] 10 [or more] days or parts of days unexcused
3-23 within [in] a six-month period:
3-24 (1) the student's parent or legal guardian is subject
3-25 to prosecution under Section 25.093; and
3-26 (2) the student is subject to prosecution under
4-1 Section 25.094.
4-2 SECTION 6. Subsection (e), Section 51.03, Family Code, is
4-3 amended to read as follows:
4-4 (e) For the purposes of [Subdivisions (2) and (3) of]
4-5 Subsection (b)(3) [(b) of this section], "child" does not include a
4-6 person who is married, divorced, or widowed.
4-7 SECTION 7. Section 51.08, Family Code, is amended by adding
4-8 Subsection (d) to read as follows:
4-9 (d) A misdemeanor described by Subsection (b) shall not be
4-10 construed to include truant conduct or conduct resulting in a
4-11 failure to attend school.
4-12 SECTION 8. Subsection (f), Section 54.021, Family Code, is
4-13 amended to read as follows:
4-14 (f) A school attendance officer may refer a person alleged
4-15 to have engaged in conduct described in Section 51.03(b)(2) [of
4-16 this code] to a justice court in any precinct in the county in
4-17 which [where] the person resides or in which [where] the [person's]
4-18 school is located or to a municipal court of the municipality in
4-19 which [where] the person resides or in which [where] the [person's]
4-20 school is located if the juvenile court having exclusive original
4-21 jurisdiction has waived its jurisdiction as provided by Subsection
4-22 (a) [of this section] for all cases involving conduct described by
4-23 Section 51.03(b)(2) [of this code].
4-24 SECTION 9. (a) The change in law made to Subsection (b),
4-25 Section 25.093, Education Code, applies only to an offense
4-26 committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For purposes
5-1 of this section, an offense is committed before the effective date
5-2 of this Act if any element of the offense occurs before that date.
5-3 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
5-4 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
5-5 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
5-6 SECTION 10. This Act takes effect August 1, 1999.
5-7 SECTION 11. The importance of this legislation and the
5-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-12 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
5-13 terms, and it is so enacted.