By Jackson S.B. No. 1206
77R3410 GWK-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to risk assessment procedures used in the sex offender
1-3 registration program and to duties and immunities for officers and
1-4 employees who administer the program.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (c), Article 62.03, Code of
1-7 Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) Before a person who will be subject to registration
1-9 under this chapter is due to be released from a penal institution,
1-10 the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Youth
1-11 Commission, or the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission [risk
1-12 assessment review committee established under Article 62.035] shall
1-13 determine the person's level of risk to the community using the sex
1-14 offender screening tool developed or selected under Article 62.035
1-15 and [that article,] assign to the person a numeric risk level of
1-16 one, [or] two, or three [and immediately send a written notice of
1-17 the risk level to the penal institution from which the person is
1-18 due to be released]. Before releasing the person [On receiving
1-19 notice under this subsection], an official of the penal institution
1-20 shall:
1-21 (1) inform the person that:
1-22 (A) not later than the seventh day after the
1-23 date on which the person is released or the date on which the
1-24 person moves from a previous residence to a new residence in this
2-1 state, the person must:
2-2 (i) register or verify registration with
2-3 the local law enforcement authority in the municipality or county
2-4 in which the person intends to reside; or
2-5 (ii) if the person has not moved to an
2-6 intended residence, report to the juvenile probation officer,
2-7 community supervision and corrections department officer, or parole
2-8 officer supervising the person;
2-9 (B) not later than the seventh day before the
2-10 date on which the person moves to a new residence in this state or
2-11 another state, the person must report in person to the local law
2-12 enforcement authority with whom the person last registered and to
2-13 the juvenile probation officer, community supervision and
2-14 corrections department officer, or parole officer supervising the
2-15 person;
2-16 (C) not later than the 10th day after the date
2-17 on which the person arrives in another state in which the person
2-18 intends to reside, the person must register with the law
2-19 enforcement agency that is identified by the department as the
2-20 agency designated by that state to receive registration
2-21 information, if the other state has a registration requirement for
2-22 sex offenders; and
2-23 (D) not later than the 30th day after the date
2-24 on which the person is released, the person must apply to the
2-25 department in person for the issuance of an original or renewal
2-26 driver's license or personal identification certificate and a
2-27 failure to apply to the department as required by this paragraph
3-1 results in the automatic revocation of any driver's license or
3-2 personal identification certificate issued by the department to the
3-3 person;
3-4 (2) require the person to sign a written statement
3-5 that the person was informed of the person's duties as described by
3-6 Subdivision (1) or, if the person refuses to sign the statement,
3-7 certify that the person was so informed;
3-8 (3) obtain the address where the person expects to
3-9 reside on the person's release and other registration information,
3-10 including a photograph and complete set of fingerprints; and
3-11 (4) complete the registration form for the person.
3-12 (c) If a person who is subject to registration under this
3-13 chapter receives an order deferring adjudication, placing the
3-14 person on juvenile probation or community supervision, or imposing
3-15 only a fine, the court pronouncing the order or sentence shall make
3-16 a determination of the person's numeric risk level using the sex
3-17 offender screening tool developed or selected under Article 62.035,
3-18 assign to the person a numeric risk level of one, [or] two, or
3-19 three, and ensure that the prerelease notification and registration
3-20 requirements specified in this article are conducted on the day of
3-21 entering the order or sentencing. If a community supervision and
3-22 corrections department representative is available in court at the
3-23 time a court pronounces a sentence of deferred adjudication or
3-24 community supervision, the representative shall immediately obtain
3-25 the person's numeric risk level from the court and conduct the
3-26 prerelease notification and registration requirements specified in
3-27 this article. In any other case in which the court pronounces a
4-1 sentence under this subsection, the court shall designate another
4-2 appropriate individual to obtain the person's numeric risk level
4-3 from the court and conduct the prerelease notification and
4-4 registration requirements specified in this article.
4-5 SECTION 2. Article 62.035, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
4-6 amended to read as follows:
4-7 Art. 62.035. RISK ASSESSMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE; SEX OFFENDER
4-8 SCREENING TOOL. (a) The Texas Department of Criminal Justice
4-9 shall establish a risk assessment review committee composed of at
4-10 least five members, each of whom is a state employee whose service
4-11 on the review committee is in addition to the employee's regular
4-12 duties. The review committee, to the extent feasible, should
4-13 include at least:
4-14 (1) one member having experience in law enforcement;
4-15 (2) one member having experience working with juvenile
4-16 sex offenders;
4-17 (3) one member having experience as a sex offender
4-18 treatment provider; and
4-19 (4) one member having experience working with victims
4-20 of sex offenses.
4-21 (b) The risk assessment review committee functions in an
4-22 oversight capacity. The committee shall:
4-23 (1) develop or select from among existing tools a sex
4-24 offender screening tool to be used in determining the level of risk
4-25 of a person subject to registration under this chapter;
4-26 (2) ensure that staff are trained on the use of the
4-27 screening tool;
5-1 (3) monitor the use of the screening tool in the
5-2 state; and
5-3 (4) analyze other screening tools as they become
5-4 available and revise or replace the existing screening tool if
5-5 warranted.
5-6 (c) The sex offender screening tool must use an objective
5-7 point system under which a person is assigned a designated number
5-8 of points for each of various factors[, such as the nature of the
5-9 offense for which the person is subject to registration, the age of
5-10 the victim, and the number of occasions on which the person has
5-11 been convicted of or adjudicated for an offense for which a person
5-12 is subject to registration under this chapter]. In developing or
5-13 selecting the sex offender screening tool, the risk assessment
5-14 review committee shall use or shall select a screening tool that
5-15 may be adapted to use the following general guidelines:
5-16 (1) level one (low):[(A)] a designated range [number] of points [or
5-18 higher] on the sex offender screening tool indicating that the
5-19 person poses a low danger to the community and will not likely
5-20 engage in criminal sexual conduct; [and]
5-21 [(B) a basis for concern that the person poses a
5-22 serious danger to the community or will continue to engage in
5-23 criminal sexual conduct;]
5-24 (2) level two (moderate)[, either, but not both, of
5-25 the following]:
5-26 [(A)] a designated range [number] of points [or
5-27 higher] on the sex offender screening tool indicating [; or]
6-1 [(B) a basis for concern] that the person poses
6-2 a moderate [serious] danger to the community and may [or will]
6-3 continue to engage in criminal sexual conduct; and
6-4 (3) level three (high): a designated range of points
6-5 on the sex offender screening tool indicating [no basis for
6-6 concern] that the person poses a serious danger to the community
6-7 and [or] will continue to engage in criminal sexual conduct.
6-8 (d) The risk assessment review committee, the Texas
6-9 Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Juvenile Probation
6-10 Commission, the Texas Youth Commission, or a court may override a
6-11 risk level only if the entity:
6-12 (1) believes that the risk level assessed is not an
6-13 accurate prediction of the risk the offender poses to the
6-14 community; and
6-15 (2) documents the reason for the override in the
6-16 offender's case file.
6-17 (e) Chapter 551, Government Code, does not apply to a
6-18 meeting of the risk assessment review committee.
6-19 [(c) The risk assessment review committee may assign to a
6-20 person a numeric risk level of three only on receipt of notice
6-21 under Article 62.04 that the person intends to move to a new
6-22 residence in this state and only if:]
6-23 [(1) the person was originally assigned a numeric risk
6-24 level of two under Article 62.03;]
6-25 [(2) the committee considers any information available
6-26 to the committee that was used by the committee or by the court at
6-27 the time of assigning to the person a numeric risk level of two;
7-1 and]
7-2 [(3) the basis on which the person is subject to
7-3 registration is a conviction of or a grant of deferred adjudication
7-4 for an offense under Section 21.11 or Section 22.011(a)(2), Penal
7-5 Code, or an adjudication of delinquent conduct based on a violation
7-6 of one of those offenses, committed against a victim who is of the
7-7 opposite sex of the person and is not more than five years younger
7-8 than the person.]
7-9 SECTION 3. Subsections (d) and (f), Article 62.04, Code of
7-10 Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
7-11 (d) Not later than the third day after receipt of
7-12 information under Subsection (a) or (b), whichever is earlier, the
7-13 local law enforcement authority shall forward this information to
7-14 the department and, if the person intends to move to another
7-15 municipality or county in this state, to the applicable local law
7-16 enforcement authority in that municipality or county [and, if the
7-17 person meets the criteria described by Article 62.035(c)(3) to be
7-18 reassigned a numeric risk level of three, to the risk assessment
7-19 review committee established under that article. On receipt of
7-20 information under this subsection, the risk assessment review
7-21 committee shall determine whether the person meets the criteria to
7-22 be reassigned a numeric risk level of three, assign to the person a
7-23 numeric risk level of three, if the person meets that criteria, and
7-24 immediately send a written notice of the person's risk level to the
7-25 department and to the local law enforcement authority in the
7-26 municipality or county where the person intends to reside].
7-27 (f) If the person moves to another municipality or county in
8-1 this state, the department shall inform the applicable local law
8-2 enforcement authority in the new area of the person's residence not
8-3 later than the third day after the date on which the department
8-4 receives information under Subsection (a). Not later than the
8-5 eighth day after the date on which the local law enforcement
8-6 authority is informed under Subsection (a) or under this
8-7 subsection, the authority shall verify the age of the victim, the
8-8 age of the person subject to registration, the basis on which the
8-9 person is subject to registration under this chapter, and the
8-10 person's numeric risk level. If the victim is a child younger than
8-11 17 years of age, the basis on which the person is subject to
8-12 registration is not an adjudication of delinquent conduct and is
8-13 not a conviction or a deferred adjudication for an offense under
8-14 Section 25.02, Penal Code, and the person is not assigned a numeric
8-15 risk level of one [three], the authority shall immediately publish
8-16 notice in English and Spanish in the newspaper of greatest paid
8-17 circulation in the county in which the person subject to
8-18 registration intends to reside or, if there is no newspaper of paid
8-19 circulation in that county, in the newspaper of greatest general
8-20 circulation in the county. The local law enforcement authority
8-21 shall publish a duplicate notice in the newspaper, with any
8-22 necessary corrections, during the week immediately following the
8-23 week of initial publication. If the victim is a child younger than
8-24 17 years of age or the person subject to registration is 17 years
8-25 of age or older and a student enrolled in a public or private
8-26 secondary school, regardless of the basis on which the person is
8-27 subject to registration or the person's numeric risk level, the
9-1 authority shall immediately provide notice to the superintendent of
9-2 the public school district and to the administrator of any private
9-3 primary or secondary school located in the public school district
9-4 in which the person subject to registration intends to reside by
9-5 mail to the office of the superintendent or administrator, as
9-6 appropriate. On receipt of a notice under this subsection, the
9-7 superintendent shall release the information contained in the
9-8 notice to appropriate school district personnel, including peace
9-9 officers and security personnel, principals, nurses, and
9-10 counselors.
9-11 SECTION 4. Subsections (a) and (d), Article 62.045, Code of
9-12 Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
9-13 (a) On receipt of notice under this chapter that a person
9-14 subject to registration is due to be released from a penal
9-15 institution, has been placed on community supervision or juvenile
9-16 probation, or intends to move to a new residence in this state, the
9-17 department shall verify the person's numeric risk level assigned
9-18 under this chapter. If the person is assigned a numeric risk level
9-19 of three [one], the department shall, not later than the seventh
9-20 day after the date on which the person is released or the 10th day
9-21 after the date on which the person moves, provide written notice
9-22 mailed or delivered to at least each residential address within a
9-23 one-mile radius, in an area that has not been subdivided, or a
9-24 three-block area, in an area that has been subdivided, of the place
9-25 where the person intends to reside. In providing written notice
9-26 under this subsection, the department shall use employees of the
9-27 department whose duties in providing the notice are in addition to
10-1 the employees' regular duties.
10-2 (d) On receipt of notice under this chapter that a person
10-3 subject to registration under this chapter is required to register
10-4 or verify registration with a local law enforcement authority and
10-5 has been assigned a numeric risk level of three [one], the local
10-6 law enforcement authority may provide notice to the public in any
10-7 manner determined appropriate by the local law enforcement
10-8 authority, including holding a neighborhood meeting, posting
10-9 notices in the area where the person intends to reside,
10-10 distributing printed notices to area residents, or establishing a
10-11 specialized local website. The local law enforcement authority may
10-12 include in the notice any information that is public information
10-13 under this chapter.
10-14 SECTION 5. Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
10-15 by adding Article 62.091 to read as follows:
10-16 Art. 62.091. GENERAL IMMUNITY. The following persons are
10-17 immune from liability for good faith conduct under this chapter:
10-18 (1) an employee or officer of the Texas Department of
10-19 Criminal Justice, the Texas Youth Commission, the Texas Juvenile
10-20 Probation Commission, or the Department of Public Safety;
10-21 (2) an employee or officer of a community supervision
10-22 and corrections department; and
10-23 (3) a member of the judiciary.
10-24 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.