SRC-JBJ S.B. 1648 77(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 1648
By: Bernsen
Criminal Justice
3/16/2001
As Filed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Currently, Texas statutes require individuals possessing a reportable
conviction  or adjudication under Texas law or the law of another state, if
the other state maintains a reciprocity agreement with Texas, to register
as sex offenders.  A gap in the registration requirement, however, exists
for individuals convicted under a federal law or the Uniform Code of
Military Justice.  There is also some confusion regarding the application
of the provisions pertaining to the determination of the number of sexual
offense convictions an individuals has received.  As proposed, S.B. 1648
requires an individual convicted under federal law or the Uniform Code of
Military Justice to register as a sex offender only if the law the
individual was convicted under contains substantially similar elements to
the Texas statutes requiring registration and clarifies the application of
provisions pertaining to the determination of the number of sexual offense
convictions an individual has received. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a
state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding
Article 62.0101, as follows: 
 
Art. 62.0101.  DETERMINATION REGARDING SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR ELEMENTS OF
OFFENSE.  Provides that the Department of Public Safety (department) is
responsible for determining for the purpose of this chapter whether an
offense under the laws of another state, federal law, or the Uniform Code
of Military Justice contains elements that are substantially similar to the
elements of an offense under the laws of this state. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Articles 62.021(a) and (c), Code of Criminal Procedure,
to provide that this article applies to certain specific persons.  Provides
that the expiration of the duty to register for a person described by
Subsection (a) expires on the date the person's duty to register would
expire under the laws of, rather than in, the other state had the person
remained in that state, under federal law, or under the Uniform Code of
Military Justice, as applicable. 
 
SECTION 3.  Amends Article 62.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding
Subsection (e), to provide that for purposes of this article, a person
received multiple convictions or orders of deferred adjudication regardless
of whether the judgments or orders were entered on different dates, or the
offenses for which the person was convicted or placed on deferred
adjudication arose out of different criminal transactions. 
 
SECTION 4.  Provides that this Act applies to a person required to register
as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, under the
laws of another state, under federal law, or under the Uniform Code of
Military Justice before, on, or after the effective date of this Act. 

 SECTION 5.  Effective date: Upon passage or September 1, 2001.