1-1 By: West S.B. No. 1572
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 19, 1999,
1-4 reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 19, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1572 By: West
1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-8 AN ACT
1-9 relating to the compulsory school attendance laws and
1-10 responsibility for compliance with those laws; providing penalties.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 1, Article 45.22, Code of Criminal
1-13 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-14 Sec. 1. No person shall ever be tried in any justice
1-15 precinct court unless the offense with which he was charged was
1-16 committed in such precinct with the exception of truancy or failure
1-17 to attend school, which may be referred to a justice court in any
1-18 precinct in the county in which the parent resides or in which the
1-19 school is located, or except as otherwise provided by provisions of
1-20 the Education Code or Family Code. Provided, however, should there
1-21 be no duly qualified justice precinct court in the precinct where
1-22 such offense was committed, then the defendant shall be tried in
1-23 the justice precinct next adjacent which may have a duly qualified
1-24 justice court. And provided further, that if the justice of the
1-25 peace of the precinct in which the offense was committed is
1-26 disqualified for any reason for trying the case, then such
1-27 defendant may be tried in some other justice precinct within the
1-28 county.
1-29 SECTION 2. Subsection (f), Section 25.002, Education Code,
1-30 is amended to read as follows:
1-31 (f) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, for a
1-32 child to be enrolled in a public school, the child must be enrolled
1-33 by the child's parent, [or by] the child's guardian or other person
1-34 with legal control of the child under a court order, or the child's
1-35 custodian. Proof that the person enrolling the child is the
1-36 child's parent, guardian, or custodian must be provided at the time
1-37 of enrollment by presentation of a driver's license, social
1-38 security card, or other valid legal document.
1-39 SECTION 3. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 25.093,
1-40 Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-41 (a) If any parent of a child required to attend school fails
1-42 to require the child to attend school as required by law, after the
1-43 school has previously warned [attendance officer shall warn] the
1-44 parent in writing that it is the parent's duty to monitor the
1-45 child's school attendance and to require the child to attend
1-46 school, the parent is subject to prosecution under Subsection (b)
1-47 for failure to comply with school attendance requirements [is
1-48 immediately required].
1-49 (b) If, after being previously warned as described by [a
1-50 warning under] Subsection (a), the parent with criminal negligence
1-51 fails to require the child to attend school as required by law [and
1-52 the child has unexcused voluntary absences for the amount of time
1-53 specified under Section 51.03(b)(2), Family Code], the parent
1-54 commits an offense.
1-55 (c) The attendance officer shall file a complaint against
1-56 the parent in the county court, in a justice court in any precinct
1-57 in the county in which the parent resides or in which the school is
1-58 located, or in a municipal court of the municipality in which the
1-59 parent resides or in which the school is located. The attendance
1-60 officer shall file a complaint under this section in the court to
1-61 which the parent's child has been referred for engaging in conduct
1-62 described in Section 51.03(b)(2), Family Code, if a referral has
1-63 been made for the child. [If a referral has not been made, the
1-64 attendance officer shall refer the child to the county juvenile
2-1 probation department for action as engaging in conduct indicating a
2-2 need for supervision under that section.]
2-3 SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 25.094, Education Code,
2-4 is amended to read as follows:
2-5 (b) An offense under this section may be prosecuted in a
2-6 justice court in any precinct in the county in which the child
2-7 resides or in which the school is located or in a municipal court
2-8 in the municipality in which the child resides or in which the
2-9 school is located.
2-10 SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 25.095, Education Code,
2-11 is amended to read as follows:
2-12 (a) A school district shall notify a student's parent or
2-13 legal guardian in writing at the beginning of the school year that
2-14 if[, in a six-month period,] the student is [has been] absent from
2-15 school three days or parts of days within a four-week period
2-16 without parental consent or [an excuse five times for any part of
2-17 the day. The notice must state that if the student is absent
2-18 without an excuse for] 10 [or more] days or parts of days unexcused
2-19 within [in] a six-month period:
2-20 (1) the student's parent or legal guardian is subject
2-21 to prosecution under Section 25.093; and
2-22 (2) the student is subject to prosecution under
2-23 Section 25.094.
2-24 SECTION 6. Section 51.08, Family Code, is amended by adding
2-25 Subsection (d) to read as follows:
2-26 (d) A misdemeanor described by Subsection (b)(1) shall not
2-27 be construed to include truant conduct or conduct resulting in a
2-28 failure to attend school.
2-29 SECTION 7. Subsection (f), Section 54.021, Family Code, is
2-30 amended to read as follows:
2-31 (f) A school attendance officer may refer a person alleged
2-32 to have engaged in conduct described in Section 51.03(b)(2) [of
2-33 this code] to a justice court in any precinct in the county in
2-34 which [where] the person resides or in which [where] the [person's]
2-35 school is located or to a municipal court of the municipality in
2-36 which [where] the person resides or in which [where] the [person's]
2-37 school is located if the juvenile court having exclusive original
2-38 jurisdiction has waived its jurisdiction as provided by Subsection
2-39 (a) [of this section] for all cases involving conduct described by
2-40 Section 51.03(b)(2) [of this code].
2-41 SECTION 8. (a) The change in law made by this Act to
2-42 Subsection (b), Section 25.093, Education Code, applies only to an
2-43 offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For
2-44 purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
2-45 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
2-46 before that date.
2-47 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
2-48 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
2-49 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-50 SECTION 9. This Act takes effect August 1, 1999.
2-51 SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
2-52 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-53 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-54 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-55 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-56 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
2-57 terms, and it is so enacted.
2-58 * * * * *