By: Jackson S.B. No. 1650
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the public notice requirements applicable to persons
1-2 who are subject to sex offender registration.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subsections (a), (b), (c), (e), and (f), Article
1-5 62.03, Code of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) Before a person who will be subject to registration
1-7 under this chapter is due to be released from a penal institution,
1-8 the risk assessment review committee established under Article
1-9 62.035 shall determine the person's level of risk to the community
1-10 using the sex offender screening tool developed or selected under
1-11 that article, assign to the person a numeric risk level of one or
1-12 two, and immediately send a written notice of the risk level to the
1-13 penal institution from which the person is due to be released. On
1-14 receiving notice under this subsection, an official of the penal
1-15 institution shall:
1-16 (1) inform the person that:
1-17 (A) not later than the seventh day after the
1-18 date on which the person is released or the date on which the
1-19 person moves from a previous residence to a new residence in this
1-20 state, the person must:
1-21 (i) register or verify registration with
1-22 the local law enforcement authority in the municipality or county
1-23 in which the person intends to reside; or
1-24 (ii) if the person has not moved to an
2-1 intended residence, report to the juvenile probation officer,
2-2 community supervision and corrections department officer, or parole
2-3 officer supervising the person;
2-4 (B) not later than the seventh day before the
2-5 date on which the person moves to a new residence in this state or
2-6 another state, the person must report in person to the local law
2-7 enforcement authority with whom the person last registered and to
2-8 the juvenile probation officer, community supervision and
2-9 corrections department officer, or parole officer supervising the
2-10 person; and
2-11 (C) not later than the 10th day after the date
2-12 on which the person arrives in another state in which the person
2-13 intends to reside, the person must register with the law
2-14 enforcement agency that is identified by the department as the
2-15 agency designated by that state to receive registration
2-16 information, if the other state has a registration requirement for
2-17 sex offenders;
2-18 (2) require the person to sign a written statement
2-19 that the person was informed of the person's duties as described by
2-20 Subdivision (1) or, if the person refuses to sign the statement,
2-21 certify that the person was so informed;
2-22 (3) obtain the address where the person expects to
2-23 reside on the person's release and other registration information,
2-24 including a photograph and complete set of fingerprints; and
2-25 (4) complete the registration form for the person.
2-26 (b) On the seventh day before the date on which a person who
3-1 will be subject to registration under this chapter is due to be
3-2 released from a penal institution, or on receipt of notice by a
3-3 penal institution that a person who will be subject to registration
3-4 under this chapter is due to be released in less than seven days,
3-5 an official of the penal institution shall send the person's
3-6 completed registration form and numeric risk level to the
3-7 department and to:
3-8 (1) the applicable local law enforcement authority in
3-9 the municipality or county in which the person expects to reside,
3-10 if the person expects to reside in this state; or
3-11 (2) the law enforcement agency that is identified by
3-12 the department as the agency designated by another state to receive
3-13 registration information, if the person expects to reside in that
3-14 other state and that other state has a registration requirement for
3-15 sex offenders.
3-16 (c) If a person who is subject to registration under this
3-17 chapter receives an order deferring adjudication, placing the
3-18 person on juvenile probation or community supervision, or imposing
3-19 only a fine, the court pronouncing the order or sentence shall make
3-20 a determination of the person's numeric risk level using the sex
3-21 offender screening tool developed or selected under Article 62.035,
3-22 assign to the person a numeric risk level of one or two, and ensure
3-23 that the prerelease notification and registration requirements
3-24 specified in this article are conducted on the day of entering the
3-25 order or sentencing. If a community supervision and corrections
3-26 department representative is available in court at the time a court
4-1 pronounces a sentence of deferred adjudication or community
4-2 supervision, the representative shall immediately obtain the
4-3 person's numeric risk level from the court and conduct the
4-4 prerelease notification and registration requirements specified in
4-5 this article. In any other case in which the court pronounces a
4-6 sentence under this subsection, the court shall designate another
4-7 appropriate individual to obtain the person's numeric risk level
4-8 from the court and conduct the prerelease notification and
4-9 registration requirements specified in this article.
4-10 (e) Not later than the eighth day after receiving a
4-11 registration form under Subsection (b), (c), or (d), the local law
4-12 enforcement authority shall verify the age of the victim, [and] the
4-13 basis on which the person is subject to registration under this
4-14 chapter, and the person's numeric risk level. If the victim is a
4-15 child younger than 17 years of age and the basis on which the
4-16 person is subject to registration is not an adjudication of
4-17 delinquent conduct and is not a conviction or a deferred
4-18 adjudication for an offense under Section 25.02, Penal Code, the
4-19 authority shall immediately publish notice in English and Spanish
4-20 in the newspaper of greatest paid circulation in the county in
4-21 which the person subject to registration intends to reside or, if
4-22 there is no newspaper of paid circulation in that county, in the
4-23 newspaper of greatest general circulation in the county. The
4-24 authority shall publish a duplicate notice in the newspaper, with
4-25 any necessary corrections, during the week immediately following
4-26 the week of initial publication. If the victim is a child younger
5-1 than 17 years of age, regardless of the basis on which the person
5-2 is subject to registration, the authority shall immediately provide
5-3 notice to the superintendent of the public school district and to
5-4 the administrator of any private primary or secondary school
5-5 located in the public school district in which the person subject
5-6 to registration intends to reside by mail to the office of the
5-7 superintendent or administrator, as appropriate.
5-8 (f) The local law enforcement authority shall include in the
5-9 notice by publication in a newspaper the following information
5-10 only:
5-11 (1) the person's age and gender;
5-12 (2) a brief description of the offense for which the
5-13 person is subject to registration; [and]
5-14 (3) the municipality, street name, and zip code number
5-15 where the person intends to reside; and
5-16 (4) the person's numeric risk level assigned under
5-17 this chapter and the guidelines used to determine a person's risk
5-18 level generally.
5-19 SECTION 2. Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added
5-20 by Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session,
5-21 1997, is amended by adding Article 62.035 to read as follows:
5-22 Art. 62.035. RISK ASSESSMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE; SEX OFFENDER
5-23 SCREENING TOOL. (a) The Texas Department of Criminal Justice
5-24 shall establish a risk assessment review committee composed of at
5-25 least five members, each of whom is a state employee whose service
5-26 on the review committee is in addition to the employee's regular
6-1 duties. The review committee, to the extent feasible, should
6-2 include at least:
6-3 (1) one member having experience in law enforcement;
6-4 (2) one member having experience working with juvenile
6-5 sex offenders;
6-6 (3) one member having experience as a sex offender
6-7 treatment provider; and
6-8 (4) one member having experience working with victims
6-9 of sex offenses.
6-10 (b) The risk assessment review committee shall develop or
6-11 select from among existing tools a sex offender screening tool to
6-12 be used in determining the level of risk of a person subject to
6-13 registration under this chapter. The sex offender screening tool
6-14 must use an objective point system under which a person is assigned
6-15 a designated number of points for each of various factors, such as
6-16 the nature of the offense for which the person is subject to
6-17 registration, the age of the victim, and the number of occasions on
6-18 which the person has been convicted of or adjudicated for an
6-19 offense for which a person is subject to registration under this
6-20 chapter. In developing or selecting the sex offender screening
6-21 tool, the risk assessment review committee shall use or shall
6-22 select a screening tool that may be adapted to use the following
6-23 general guidelines:
6-24 (1) level one:
6-25 (A) a designated number of points or higher on
6-26 the sex offender screening tool; and
7-1 (B) a basis for concern that the person poses a
7-2 serious danger to the community or will continue to engage in
7-3 criminal sexual conduct;
7-4 (2) level two, either, but not both, of the following:
7-5 (A) a designated number of points or higher on
7-6 the sex offender screening tool; or
7-7 (B) a basis for concern that the person poses a
7-8 serious danger to the community or will continue to engage in
7-9 criminal sexual conduct; and
7-10 (3) level three: no basis for concern that the person
7-11 poses a serious danger to the community or will continue to engage
7-12 in criminal sexual conduct.
7-13 (c) The risk assessment review committee may assign to a
7-14 person a numeric risk level of three only on receipt of notice
7-15 under Article 62.04 that the person intends to move to a new
7-16 residence in this state and only if:
7-17 (1) the person was originally assigned a numeric risk
7-18 level of two under Article 62.03;
7-19 (2) the committee considers any information available
7-20 to the committee that was used by the committee or by the court at
7-21 the time of assigning to the person a numeric risk level of two;
7-22 and
7-23 (3) the basis on which the person is subject to
7-24 registration is a conviction of or a grant of deferred adjudication
7-25 for an offense under Section 21.11 or Section 22.011(a)(2), Penal
7-26 Code, or an adjudication of delinquent conduct based on a violation
8-1 of one of those offenses, committed against a victim who is of the
8-2 opposite sex of the person and is not more than five years younger
8-3 than the person.
8-4 SECTION 3. Subsections (d), (f), and (g), Article 62.04,
8-5 Code of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
8-6 (d) Not later than the third day after receipt of
8-7 information under Subsection (a) or (b), whichever is earlier, the
8-8 local law enforcement authority shall forward this information to
8-9 the department and, if the person intends to move to another
8-10 municipality or county in this state, to the applicable local law
8-11 enforcement authority in that municipality or county and, if the
8-12 person meets the criteria described by Article 62.035(c)(3) to be
8-13 reassigned a numeric risk level of three, to the risk assessment
8-14 review committee established under that article. On receipt of
8-15 information under this subsection, the risk assessment review
8-16 committee shall determine whether the person meets the criteria to
8-17 be reassigned a numeric risk level of three, assign to the person a
8-18 numeric risk level of three, if the person meets that criteria, and
8-19 immediately send a written notice of the person's risk level to the
8-20 department and to the local law enforcement authority in the
8-21 municipality or county where the person intends to reside.
8-22 (f) If the person moves to another municipality or county in
8-23 this state, the department shall inform the applicable local law
8-24 enforcement authority in the new area of the person's residence not
8-25 later than the third day after the date on which the department
8-26 receives information under Subsection (a). Not later than the
9-1 eighth day after the date on which the local law enforcement
9-2 authority is informed under Subsection (a) or under this
9-3 subsection, the authority shall verify the age of the victim, [and]
9-4 the basis on which the person is subject to registration under this
9-5 chapter, and the person's numeric risk level. If the victim is a
9-6 child younger than 17 years of age, [and] the basis on which the
9-7 person is subject to registration is not an adjudication of
9-8 delinquent conduct and is not a conviction or a deferred
9-9 adjudication for an offense under Section 25.02, Penal Code, and
9-10 the person is not assigned a numeric risk level three, the
9-11 authority shall immediately publish notice in English and Spanish
9-12 in the newspaper of greatest paid circulation in the county in
9-13 which the person subject to registration intends to reside or, if
9-14 there is no newspaper of paid circulation in that county, in the
9-15 newspaper of greatest general circulation in the county. The local
9-16 law enforcement authority shall publish a duplicate notice in the
9-17 newspaper, with any necessary corrections, during the week
9-18 immediately following the week of initial publication. If the
9-19 victim is a child younger than 17 years of age, regardless of the
9-20 basis on which the person is subject to registration or the
9-21 person's numeric risk level, the authority shall immediately
9-22 provide notice to the superintendent of the public school district
9-23 and to the administrator of any private primary or secondary school
9-24 located in the public school district in which the person subject
9-25 to registration intends to reside by mail to the office of the
9-26 superintendent or administrator, as appropriate.
10-1 (g) The local law enforcement authority shall include in the
10-2 notice by publication in a newspaper the following information
10-3 only:
10-4 (1) the person's age and gender;
10-5 (2) a brief description of the offense for which the
10-6 person is subject to registration; [and]
10-7 (3) the municipality, street name, and zip code number
10-8 where the person intends to reside; and
10-9 (4) the person's numeric risk level assigned under
10-10 this chapter and the guidelines used to determine a person's risk
10-11 level generally.
10-12 SECTION 4. Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added
10-13 by Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session,
10-14 1997, is amended by adding Article 62.045 to read as follows:
10-15 Art. 62.045. ADDITIONAL PUBLIC NOTICE FOR CERTAIN OFFENDERS.
10-16 (a) On receipt of notice under this chapter that a person subject
10-17 to registration is due to be released from a penal institution, has
10-18 been placed on community supervision or juvenile probation, or
10-19 intends to move to a new residence in this state, the department
10-20 shall verify the person's numeric risk level assigned under this
10-21 chapter. If the person is assigned a numeric risk level one, the
10-22 department shall, not later than the seventh day after the date on
10-23 which the person is released or the 10th day after the date on
10-24 which the person moves, provide written notice mailed or delivered
10-25 to at least each residential address within a one-mile radius, in
10-26 an area that has not been subdivided, or a three-block area, in an
11-1 area that has been subdivided, of the place where the person
11-2 intends to reside.
11-3 (b) The department shall include in the notice any
11-4 information that is public information under this chapter. The
11-5 department may not include any information that is not public
11-6 information under this chapter.
11-7 (c) The department shall establish procedures for a person
11-8 with respect to whom notice is provided under Subsection (a), other
11-9 than a person subject to registration on the basis of an
11-10 adjudication of delinquent conduct, to pay to the department all
11-11 costs incurred by the department in providing the notice. The
11-12 person shall pay those costs in accordance with the procedures
11-13 established under this subsection.
11-14 (d) On receipt of notice under this chapter that a person
11-15 subject to registration under this chapter is required to register
11-16 or verify registration with a local law enforcement authority and
11-17 has been assigned a numeric risk level of one, the local law
11-18 enforcement authority may provide notice to the public in any
11-19 manner determined appropriate by the local law enforcement
11-20 authority, including holding a neighborhood meeting, posting
11-21 notices in the area where the person intends to reside,
11-22 distributing printed notices to area residents, or establishing a
11-23 specialized local website. The local law enforcement authority may
11-24 include in the notice any information that is public information
11-25 under this chapter.
11-26 SECTION 5. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
12-1 establish the risk assessment review committee, as required by
12-2 Article 62.035, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act,
12-3 not later than September 1, 1999. The review committee shall
12-4 develop or select the sex offender screening tool, as required by
12-5 Article 62.035, not later than December 1, 1999, and make the tool
12-6 available to all judges hearing criminal cases not later than
12-7 December 15, 1999. Each person released from a penal institution,
12-8 as defined by Article 62.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, or placed
12-9 on community supervision or juvenile probation on or after January
12-10 1, 2000, and for whom registration is required under Chapter 62, as
12-11 added by Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
12-12 Session, 1997, must be assigned a numeric risk level as required by
12-13 Chapter 62.
12-14 SECTION 6. (a) The Department of Public Safety of the State
12-15 of Texas shall establish the procedures required by Article 62.045,
12-16 Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, not later than
12-17 January 1, 2000.
12-18 (b) Article 62.045, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by
12-19 this Act, applies only to a person subject to the requirements of
12-20 Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by Chapter 668,
12-21 Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, for a
12-22 reportable conviction or adjudication, as defined by that chapter,
12-23 that occurs on or after January 1, 2000. A person subject to the
12-24 requirements of Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by
12-25 Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
12-26 for a reportable conviction or adjudication, as defined by that
13-1 chapter, that occurs before January 1, 2000, is covered by the law
13-2 in effect when the reportable conviction or adjudication occurs,
13-3 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
13-4 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect only if a specific
13-5 appropriation for the implementation of this Act is provided in
13-6 H.B. No. 1 (General Appropriations Act), Acts of the 76th
13-7 Legislature, Regular Session, 1999. If no specific appropriation
13-8 is provided in H.B. No. 1, the General Appropriations Act, this Act
13-9 has no effect.
13-10 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
13-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
13-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
13-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
13-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
13-15 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
13-16 passage, and it is so enacted.