HBA-JLV H.B. 3461 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3461 By: Reyna, Arthur Juvenile Justice & Family Issues 4/1/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law does not require school districts to file a complaint in justice or municipal courts or make a referral to a juvenile court if a student has missed a significant number of school days, or parts of school days. As a result, there are concerns that truancies are not being addressed soon enough to prevent students from dropping out of school. According to the Texas Education Agency, nearly 28,000 students in Texas dropped out from 1998-1999. Some school districts are not filing with the courts until the student has accumulated 30 to 40 absences. At that point it becomes very difficult for the student to make up the work. Also, the school district has the authority to deny credit to the student after that many absences. House Bill 3461 sets forth requirements for school districts, justice or municipal courts, and parents relating to truancy and sets forth criminal penalties relating to student truancy and for parents contributing to truancy. 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 3461 amends the Education and Family codes and the Code of Criminal Procedure to set forth provisions relating to truancy and the authority of justice and municipal courts in relation to children. The bill amends the Education Code to set forth the powers and duties of peace officers and other attendance officers concerning enforcement of compulsory school attendance requirements and removes provisions relating to certain powers and duties of a school attendance officer (Sec. 25.091). The bill removes requirements of the attendance officer to file a complaint against a parent contributing to truancy and the requirement of a court to give preference to a hearing on a complaint over other cases before the court. The bill provides that if the court orders deferred disposition, rather than probating the sentence, the court is authorized to require the defendant to provide personal services to a charitable or educational institution as a condition of the deferral. The bill authorizes the court to punish the parent for contempt of court if a parent refuses to obey a court order. The bill provides that it is an affirmative defense to the prosecution that one or more of the absences was excused by a school official or should be excused by the court (Sec. 25.093). The bill provides that an individual, rather than a child, commits an offense if the individual fails to attend school on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same school year or on three or more days or parts of days within a four-week period. The bill removes provisions requiring a justice or municipal court to transfer the complaint against the child to a juvenile court and removes the provision requiring the juvenile court to conduct an adjudication hearing. The bill authorizes a peace officer to take an individual into custody, pursuant to an order of the justice or municipal court based on an affidavit showing probable cause to believe that an individual has committed an offense. The bill provides that it is an affirmative defense to the prosecution that one or more of the absences was involuntary (Sec. 25.094). The school district is required to notify a student's parent in writing if, in a four-week period, rather than a six month period, the student has been absent without an excuse three, rather than five, times for any part of the day. The notice must request a conference between school officials and the student's parent to discuss the absences. The bill removes provisions relating to certain contents of the notice (Sec. 25.095). If a student fails to attend school without an excuse on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same school year, the bill authorizes a school district to file a complaint against the student in a justice or municipal court or refer the student to a juvenile court for conduct indicating a need for supervision. If a student fails to attend school without an excuse on three or more days or parts of days within a four-week period, the bill requires a school district to file a complaint against the student in a justice or municipal court or to refer the student to a juvenile court for conduct indicating a need for supervision. (Sec. 25.0951). The bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to prohibit a justice or municipal court from ordering the confinement of a child for contempt of another order of a justice or municipal court. If a child fails to obey an order of a justice or municipal court, the justice or municipal court is authorized to: _retain jurisdiction of the case and hold the child in contempt of the justice or municipal order and impose a fine not to exceed $500; _order the child to be held in a place of nonsecure custody for a single period not to exceed six hours; or _order the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to suspend the child's driver's license or permit or, if the child does not have a license or permit, to deny the issuance of a license or permit to the child until the child fully complies with the orders of the court. A court that orders suspension or denial of a driver's license or permit is required to notify DPS on receiving proof that the child has fully complied with the orders of the court (Art. 45.050). If a justice or municipal court finds that an individual has committed an offense for the failure to attend school proceedings or an offense other than the failure to attend school, the bill sets forth provisions relating to the punishment of the individual for such an offense (Arts. 45.054 and 45.057). The bill sets forth provisions relating to the expunction of conviction and records if an individual has committed an offense for the failure to attend school proceedings (Art. 45.055). The bill sets forth provisions to authorize a justice court, municipal court, school district, juvenile probation department, or other appropriate governmental entity to employ and reimburse truancy case managers (Art. 45.056). The bill sets forth provisions relating to children being taken into custody for an offense in which a justice or municipal court has jurisdiction (Art. 45.058). The bill sets forth provisions relating to children taken into custody for violations of juvenile curfew or order (Art. 45.059). The bill amends the Family Code to remove provisions setting forth rebuttable reasons for the absence of a child (Sec. 51.03). The bill authorizes a justice or municipal court to exercise jurisdiction over a person alleged to have engaged in conduct indicating a need for supervision by engaging in conduct in a case in which a complaint is filed by the appropriate authority in the justice or municipal court charging an offense for the failure of a child to attend school (Sec. 54.021). The bill repeals provisions relating to the enforcement of attendance law, children taken into custody for curfew, traffic offenses, certain other fineable offenses, and provisions relating to certain misdemeanors of justice or municipal courts (SECTION 16). EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.