HBA-CMT, RKM C.S.H.B. 195 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 195
By: Najera
Public Safety
3/29/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, many elderly individuals are targeted by scam artists.  Often
the persons perpetrating these scams against elderly, retired and trusting
persons will change services or use an alias, making them difficult to
track and apprehend.  C.S.H.B. 195 requires local law enforcement agencies
to report investigations of such offenses against elderly people to the
Department of Public Safety, which is required to analyze the information
and make the analyses available to any local law enforcement agency,
political  subdivision, or state agency.   

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the Department of Public Safety in
SECTION 1 (Section 411.051, Government Code) and in Section 2 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 195 amends the Government Code to provide that the provisions of
the bill apply to an offense of theft or fraud or any other applicable
offense involving an intent to steal or defraud an elderly individual 65
years of age or older.   

The bill requires a law enforcement agency that investigates such an
offense to report the investigation to the Department of Public Safety
(DPS) in the form and manner and at regular intervals as prescribed by
rules adopted by DPS.  The rules must require submission of the original
investigative report and any supplemental investigative report containing
new significant information.   

The bill requires DPS to analyze information received and any other
corresponding information possessed by DPS to identify a victim of or a
person committing or suspected of committing such an offense.  DPS is
required to make the analysis available to any local law enforcement
agency, political  subdivision, or state agency to the extent the analysis
is reasonably necessary or useful to the agency or subdivision in carrying
out duties imposed by law on the agency or subdivision.  Dissemination of
the analysis required by the bill is subject to all confidentiality
requirements by other law.    

DPS shall establish the rules and procedures necessary to comply with this
bill by October 1, 2001. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 195 modifies the original by no longer requiring that the
Department of Public Safety (DPS) to establish a central repository for the
collection of information identifying any person who is suspected or
convicted of committing an offense of theft or fraud against an elderly
individual (offense).  Instead, the  substitute simply requires an agency
that is investigating such actions to report the investigation to DPS. The
substitute replaces the provision that a law enforcement agency that
suspects or a court that convicts a person of committing an offense must
report this information to DPS with the provision that only information
from an investigation of a person who commits an act of theft or fraud
against an elderly individual is to be reported to DPS .