1-1 By: Jackson S.B. No. 1650
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
1-4 April 26, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 1; April 26, 1999,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1650 By: Nelson
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the public notice requirements applicable to persons
1-11 who are subject to sex offender registration.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Subsections (a), (b), (c), (e), and (f), Article
1-14 62.03, Code of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
1-15 (a) Before a person who will be subject to registration
1-16 under this chapter is due to be released from a penal institution,
1-17 the risk assessment review committee established under Article
1-18 62.035 shall determine the person's level of risk to the community
1-19 using the sex offender screening tool developed or selected under
1-20 that article, assign to the person a numeric risk level, and
1-21 immediately send a written notice of the risk level to the penal
1-22 institution from which the person is due to be released. On
1-23 receiving notice under this subsection, an official of the penal
1-24 institution shall:
1-25 (1) inform the person that:
1-26 (A) not later than the seventh day after the
1-27 date on which the person is released or the date on which the
1-28 person moves from a previous residence to a new residence in this
1-29 state, the person must:
1-30 (i) register or verify registration with
1-31 the local law enforcement authority in the municipality or county
1-32 in which the person intends to reside; or
1-33 (ii) if the person has not moved to an
1-34 intended residence, report to the juvenile probation officer,
1-35 community supervision and corrections department officer, or parole
1-36 officer supervising the person;
1-37 (B) not later than the seventh day before the
1-38 date on which the person moves to a new residence in this state or
1-39 another state, the person must report in person to the local law
1-40 enforcement authority with whom the person last registered and to
1-41 the juvenile probation officer, community supervision and
1-42 corrections department officer, or parole officer supervising the
1-43 person; and
1-44 (C) not later than the 10th day after the date
1-45 on which the person arrives in another state in which the person
1-46 intends to reside, the person must register with the law
1-47 enforcement agency that is identified by the department as the
1-48 agency designated by that state to receive registration
1-49 information, if the other state has a registration requirement for
1-50 sex offenders;
1-51 (2) require the person to sign a written statement
1-52 that the person was informed of the person's duties as described by
1-53 Subdivision (1) or, if the person refuses to sign the statement,
1-54 certify that the person was so informed;
1-55 (3) obtain the address where the person expects to
1-56 reside on the person's release and other registration information,
1-57 including a photograph and complete set of fingerprints; and
1-58 (4) complete the registration form for the person.
1-59 (b) On the seventh day before the date on which a person who
1-60 will be subject to registration under this chapter is due to be
1-61 released from a penal institution, or on receipt of notice by a
1-62 penal institution that a person who will be subject to registration
1-63 under this chapter is due to be released in less than seven days,
1-64 an official of the penal institution shall send the person's
2-1 completed registration form and numeric risk level to the
2-2 department and to:
2-3 (1) the applicable local law enforcement authority in
2-4 the municipality or county in which the person expects to reside,
2-5 if the person expects to reside in this state; or
2-6 (2) the law enforcement agency that is identified by
2-7 the department as the agency designated by another state to receive
2-8 registration information, if the person expects to reside in that
2-9 other state and that other state has a registration requirement for
2-10 sex offenders.
2-11 (c) If a person who is subject to registration under this
2-12 chapter receives an order deferring adjudication, placing the
2-13 person on juvenile probation or community supervision, or imposing
2-14 only a fine, the court pronouncing the order or sentence shall make
2-15 a determination of the person's numeric risk level using the sex
2-16 offender screening tool developed or selected under Article 62.035
2-17 and ensure that the prerelease notification and registration
2-18 requirements specified in this article are conducted on the day of
2-19 entering the order or sentencing. If a community supervision and
2-20 corrections department representative is available in court at the
2-21 time a court pronounces a sentence of deferred adjudication or
2-22 community supervision, the representative shall immediately obtain
2-23 the person's numeric risk level from the court and conduct the
2-24 prerelease notification and registration requirements specified in
2-25 this article. In any other case in which the court pronounces a
2-26 sentence under this subsection, the court shall designate another
2-27 appropriate individual to obtain the person's numeric risk level
2-28 from the court and conduct the prerelease notification and
2-29 registration requirements specified in this article.
2-30 (e) Not later than the eighth day after receiving a
2-31 registration form under Subsection (b), (c), or (d), the local law
2-32 enforcement authority shall verify the age of the victim, [and] the
2-33 basis on which the person is subject to registration under this
2-34 chapter, and the person's numeric risk level. If the victim is a
2-35 child younger than 17 years of age, [and] the basis on which the
2-36 person is subject to registration is not an adjudication of
2-37 delinquent conduct and is not a conviction or a deferred
2-38 adjudication for an offense under Section 25.02, Penal Code, and
2-39 the person is not assigned a numeric risk level three, the
2-40 authority shall immediately publish notice in English and Spanish
2-41 in the newspaper of greatest paid circulation in the county in
2-42 which the person subject to registration intends to reside or, if
2-43 there is no newspaper of paid circulation in that county, in the
2-44 newspaper of greatest general circulation in the county. The
2-45 authority shall publish a duplicate notice in the newspaper, with
2-46 any necessary corrections, during the week immediately following
2-47 the week of initial publication. If the victim is a child younger
2-48 than 17 years of age, regardless of the basis on which the person
2-49 is subject to registration or the person's numeric risk level, the
2-50 authority shall immediately provide notice to the superintendent of
2-51 the public school district and to the administrator of any private
2-52 primary or secondary school located in the public school district
2-53 in which the person subject to registration intends to reside by
2-54 mail to the office of the superintendent or administrator, as
2-55 appropriate.
2-56 (f) The local law enforcement authority shall include in the
2-57 notice by publication in a newspaper the following information
2-58 only:
2-59 (1) the person's age and gender;
2-60 (2) a brief description of the offense for which the
2-61 person is subject to registration; [and]
2-62 (3) the municipality, street name, and zip code number
2-63 where the person intends to reside; and
2-64 (4) the person's numeric risk level assigned under
2-65 this chapter and the guidelines used to determine a person's risk
2-66 level generally.
2-67 SECTION 2. Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added
2-68 by Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session,
2-69 1997, is amended by adding Article 62.035 to read as follows:
3-1 Art. 62.035. RISK ASSESSMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE; SEX OFFENDER
3-2 SCREENING TOOL. (a) The Texas Department of Criminal Justice
3-3 shall establish a risk assessment review committee composed of at
3-4 least five members, each of whom is a state employee whose service
3-5 on the review committee is in addition to the employee's regular
3-6 duties. The review committee, to the extent feasible, should
3-7 include at least:
3-8 (1) one member having experience in law enforcement;
3-9 (2) one member having experience working with juvenile
3-10 sex offenders;
3-11 (3) one member having experience as a sex offender
3-12 treatment provider; and
3-13 (4) one member having experience working with victims
3-14 of sex offenses.
3-15 (b) The risk assessment review committee shall develop or
3-16 select from among existing tools a sex offender screening tool to
3-17 be used in determining the level of risk of a person subject to
3-18 registration under this chapter. The sex offender screening tool
3-19 must use an objective point system under which a person is assigned
3-20 a designated number of points for each of various factors, such as
3-21 the nature of the offense for which the person is subject to
3-22 registration, the age of the victim, and the number of occasions on
3-23 which the person has been convicted of or adjudicated for an
3-24 offense for which a person is subject to registration under this
3-25 chapter. In developing or selecting the sex offender screening
3-26 tool, the risk assessment review committee shall use or shall
3-27 select a screening tool that may be adapted to use the following
3-28 general guidelines:
3-29 (1) level one:
3-30 (A) a designated number of points or higher on
3-31 the sex offender screening tool; and
3-32 (B) a basis for concern that the person poses a
3-33 serious danger to the community or will continue to engage in
3-34 criminal sexual conduct;
3-35 (2) level two, either, but not both, of the following:
3-36 (A) a designated number of points or higher on
3-37 the sex offender screening tool; or
3-38 (B) a basis for concern that the person poses a
3-39 serious danger to the community or will continue to engage in
3-40 criminal sexual conduct; and
3-41 (3) level three:
3-42 (A) a number of points lower than a designated
3-43 number on the sex offender screening tool; and
3-44 (B) no basis for concern that the person poses a
3-45 serious danger to the community or will continue to engage in
3-46 criminal sexual conduct.
3-47 SECTION 3. Subsections (f) and (g), Article 62.04, Code of
3-48 Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
3-49 (f) If the person moves to another municipality or county in
3-50 this state, the department shall inform the applicable local law
3-51 enforcement authority in the new area of the person's residence not
3-52 later than the third day after the date on which the department
3-53 receives information under Subsection (a). Not later than the
3-54 eighth day after the date on which the local law enforcement
3-55 authority is informed under Subsection (a) or under this
3-56 subsection, the authority shall verify the age of the victim, [and]
3-57 the basis on which the person is subject to registration under this
3-58 chapter, and the person's numeric risk level. If the victim is a
3-59 child younger than 17 years of age, [and] the basis on which the
3-60 person is subject to registration is not an adjudication of
3-61 delinquent conduct and is not a conviction or a deferred
3-62 adjudication for an offense under Section 25.02, Penal Code, and
3-63 the person is not assigned a numeric risk level three, the
3-64 authority shall immediately publish notice in English and Spanish
3-65 in the newspaper of greatest paid circulation in the county in
3-66 which the person subject to registration intends to reside or, if
3-67 there is no newspaper of paid circulation in that county, in the
3-68 newspaper of greatest general circulation in the county. The local
3-69 law enforcement authority shall publish a duplicate notice in the
4-1 newspaper, with any necessary corrections, during the week
4-2 immediately following the week of initial publication. If the
4-3 victim is a child younger than 17 years of age, regardless of the
4-4 basis on which the person is subject to registration or the
4-5 person's numeric risk level, the authority shall immediately
4-6 provide notice to the superintendent of the public school district
4-7 and to the administrator of any private primary or secondary school
4-8 located in the public school district in which the person subject
4-9 to registration intends to reside by mail to the office of the
4-10 superintendent or administrator, as appropriate.
4-11 (g) The local law enforcement authority shall include in the
4-12 notice by publication in a newspaper the following information
4-13 only:
4-14 (1) the person's age and gender;
4-15 (2) a brief description of the offense for which the
4-16 person is subject to registration; [and]
4-17 (3) the municipality, street name, and zip code number
4-18 where the person intends to reside; and
4-19 (4) the person's numeric risk level assigned under
4-20 this chapter and the guidelines used to determine a person's risk
4-21 level generally.
4-22 SECTION 4. Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added
4-23 by Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session,
4-24 1997, is amended by adding Article 62.045 to read as follows:
4-25 Art. 62.045. ADDITIONAL PUBLIC NOTICE FOR CERTAIN OFFENDERS.
4-26 (a) On receipt of notice under this chapter that a person subject
4-27 to registration is due to be released from a penal institution, has
4-28 been placed on community supervision or juvenile probation, or
4-29 intends to move to a new residence in this state, the department
4-30 shall verify the person's numeric risk level assigned under this
4-31 chapter. If the person is assigned a numeric risk level one, the
4-32 department shall, not later than the seventh day after the date on
4-33 which the person is released or the 10th day after the date on
4-34 which the person moves, provide written notice mailed or delivered
4-35 to at least each residential address within a one-mile radius, in
4-36 an area that has not been subdivided, or a three-block area, in an
4-37 area that has been subdivided, of the place where the person
4-38 intends to reside.
4-39 (b) The department shall include in the notice any
4-40 information that is public information under this chapter. The
4-41 department may not include any information that is not public
4-42 information under this chapter.
4-43 (c) The department shall establish procedures for a person
4-44 with respect to whom notice is provided under this section, other
4-45 than a person subject to registration on the basis of an
4-46 adjudication of delinquent conduct, to pay to the department all
4-47 costs incurred by the department in providing the notice. The
4-48 person shall pay those costs in accordance with the procedures
4-49 established under this subsection.
4-50 SECTION 5. Subsection (g), Section 19, Article 42.12, Code
4-51 of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
4-52 (g) If the judge places on community supervision a person
4-53 required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, as added
4-54 by Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session,
4-55 1997, and assigns the person a numeric risk level one or two, the
4-56 judge shall require as a condition of community supervision that
4-57 the person pay to the person's supervising officer a fee that
4-58 equals the actual cost to the applicable local law enforcement
4-59 authority for providing notice for publication to a newspaper as
4-60 required by that chapter [Chapter 62]. A community supervision and
4-61 corrections department shall remit fees collected under this
4-62 subsection to the applicable local law enforcement authority to
4-63 reimburse the authority for the actual cost incurred by the
4-64 authority, as evidenced by written receipt, for providing notice
4-65 for publication to a newspaper as required by Chapter 62, as added
4-66 by Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session,
4-67 1997. In a community supervision revocation hearing at which it is
4-68 alleged only that the person violated the terms of community
4-69 supervision by failing to make a payment under this subsection, the
5-1 inability of the person to pay as ordered by the judge is an
5-2 affirmative defense to revocation, which the person must prove by a
5-3 preponderance of the evidence.
5-4 SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 508.186, Government Code,
5-5 is amended to read as follows:
5-6 (a) A parole panel shall require as a condition of parole or
5-7 mandatory supervision that a releasee required to register as a sex
5-8 offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by
5-9 Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997:
5-10 (1) register under that chapter; and
5-11 (2) if the person's numeric risk level assigned under
5-12 that chapter is one or two, pay to the releasee's supervising
5-13 officer an amount equal to the cost, as evidenced by written
5-14 receipt, incurred by the applicable local law enforcement authority
5-15 for providing notice for publication to a newspaper as required by
5-16 that chapter.
5-17 SECTION 7. (a) In accordance with Subsection (c), Section
5-18 311.031, Government Code, which gives effect to a substantive
5-19 amendment enacted by the same legislature that codifies the amended
5-20 statute, the text of Subsection (a), Section 508.186, Government
5-21 Code, as set out in this Act, gives effect to changes made by
5-22 Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997.
5-23 (b) To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over
5-24 another Act of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999,
5-25 relating to nonsubstantive additions and corrections in enacted
5-26 codes.
5-27 SECTION 8. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
5-28 establish the risk assessment review committee, as required by
5-29 Article 62.035, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act,
5-30 not later than September 1, 1999. The review committee shall
5-31 develop or select the sex offender screening tool, as required by
5-32 Article 62.035, not later than December 1, 1999, and make the tool
5-33 available to all judges hearing criminal cases not later than
5-34 December 15, 1999. Each person released from a penal institution,
5-35 as defined by Article 62.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, or placed
5-36 on community supervision or juvenile probation on or after January
5-37 1, 2000, and for whom registration is required under Chapter 62, as
5-38 added by Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
5-39 Session, 1997, must be assigned a numeric risk level as required by
5-40 Chapter 62.
5-41 SECTION 9. (a) The Department of Public Safety of the State
5-42 of Texas shall establish the procedures required by Article 62.045,
5-43 Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, not later than
5-44 January 1, 2000.
5-45 (b) Article 62.045, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by
5-46 this Act, applies only to a person subject to the requirements of
5-47 Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by Chapter 668,
5-48 Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, for a
5-49 reportable conviction or adjudication, as defined by that chapter,
5-50 that occurs on or after January 1, 2000. A person subject to the
5-51 requirements of Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by
5-52 Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
5-53 for a reportable conviction or adjudication, as defined by that
5-54 chapter, that occurs before January 1, 2000, is covered by the law
5-55 in effect when the reportable conviction or adjudication occurs,
5-56 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
5-57 SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
5-58 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-59 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-60 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-61 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-62 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-63 passage, and it is so enacted.
5-64 * * * * *