HBA-AMW H.B. 1813 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1813
By: Wohlgemuth
Criminal Jurisprudence
4/27/2001
Committee Report (Amended)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Many elderly and disabled individuals rely on relatives and family to
provide for some or all of their care. These individuals, along with other
caretakers, have a great deal of access to a patient's personal belongings
and, in the case of family members, often have access to the patient's
assets and monetary holdings.  Under current law, it may be difficult to
prosecute a family member who knowingly steals from an elderly or disabled
relative, because the law does not clearly delineate between an
individual's role as a caretaker versus an individual's role as a relative.
House Bill 1813 creates the offense of theft by a caretaker and establishes
penalties for any caretaker who exploits an elderly or disabled individual
for monetary gain. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1813 amends the Penal Code to provide that a person commits an
offense if the person, while acting as a caretaker for a disabled
individual or an elderly individual, appropriates for personal benefit
property from the disabled individual or elderly individual (theft by a
caretaker).  The bill specifies that theft by a caretaker is a Class C
misdemeanor if the value of the property stolen is less than $50, a Class B
misdemeanor if the value of the property stolen is $50 or more but less
than $500, and a Class A misdemeanor if the value of the property stolen is
between $500 and $1,500.  The bill provides that theft by a caretaker is a
state jail felony if the value of the property stolen is $1,500 or more but
less than $20,000, a felony of the third degree if the value of the
property stolen is $20,000 or more but less than $100,000, a felony of the
second degree if the value of the property stolen is between $100,000 and
$200,000, and a felony of the first degree if the value of the property
stolen is $200,000 or more. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.

EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS

Committee Amendment No. 1 defines "caretaker" to mean a person who is a
guardian; representative payee; an attorney in fact or agent, regardless of
whether the person is appointed under a durable power of attorney; or has
assumed responsibility for managing the property of or providing care for
an elderly or disabled person.  The amendment replaces references to
"disabled individual" and "elderly individual" with "disabled or elderly
person."  The amendment provides that in order for a person to commit the
offense of theft by a caretaker, the person must appropriate the property
from the disabled or elderly person without the disabled or elderly
person's informed consent.