78R5880 SLO-D
By: Dutton H.B. No. 2003
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the age of a person subject to the juvenile justice
system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.02(2), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(2) "Child" means a person who is[:
[(A)] ten years of age or older and under 18 [17]
years of age[; or
[(B) seventeen years of age or older and under 18
years of age who is alleged or found to have engaged in delinquent
conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision as a result of
acts committed before becoming 17 years of age].
SECTION 2. Section 51.041(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The court retains jurisdiction over a person, without
regard to the age of the person, for conduct engaged in by the
person before becoming 18 [17] years of age if, as a result of an
appeal by the person under Chapter 56 or under Article 44.47, Code
of Criminal Procedure, of an order of the court, the order is
reversed or modified and the case remanded to the court by the
appellate court.
SECTION 3. Section 52.027(i), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(i) In this section, "child" means a person who is at least
10 years of age and younger than 18 [17] years of age and who is
charged with or convicted of an offense that a justice or municipal
court has jurisdiction of under Article 4.11 or 4.14, Code of
Criminal Procedure, other than public intoxication.
SECTION 4. Section 54.02(j), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(j) The juvenile court may waive its exclusive original
jurisdiction and transfer a person to the appropriate district
court or criminal district court for criminal proceedings if:
(1) the person is 18 years of age or older;
(2) the person was:
(A) 10 years of age or older and under 18 [17]
years of age at the time the person is alleged to have committed a
capital felony or an offense under Section 19.02, Penal Code;
(B) 14 years of age or older and under 18 [17]
years of age at the time the person is alleged to have committed an
aggravated controlled substance felony or a felony of the first
degree other than an offense under Section 19.02, Penal Code; or
(C) 15 years of age or older and under 18 [17]
years of age at the time the person is alleged to have committed a
felony of the second or third degree or a state jail felony;
(3) no adjudication concerning the alleged offense has
been made or no adjudication hearing concerning the offense has
been conducted;
(4) the juvenile court finds from a preponderance of
the evidence that:
(A) for a reason beyond the control of the state
it was not practicable to proceed in juvenile court before the 18th
birthday of the person; or
(B) after due diligence of the state it was not
practicable to proceed in juvenile court before the 18th birthday
of the person because:
(i) the state did not have probable cause to
proceed in juvenile court and new evidence has been found since the
18th birthday of the person;
(ii) the person could not be found; or
(iii) a previous transfer order was reversed
by an appellate court or set aside by a district court; and
(5) the juvenile court determines that there is
probable cause to believe that the child before the court committed
the offense alleged.
SECTION 5. Sections 54.023(c), (d), and (f), Family Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(c) A justice or municipal court may hold a person in
contempt and impose a remedy authorized by Subsection (a)(2) if:
(1) the person as a child was placed under an order of
the justice or municipal court;
(2) the person failed to obey the order while the
person was 18 [17] years of age or older; and
(3) the failure to obey occurred under circumstances
that constitute contempt of court.
(d) A justice or municipal court may hold a person in
contempt and impose a remedy authorized by Subsection (a)(2) if the
person, while younger than 18 [17] years of age, engaged in conduct
in contempt of an order of the justice or municipal court but
contempt proceedings could not be held before the child's 18th
[17th] birthday.
(f) A justice or municipal court may not refer a child who
violates a court order while 18 [17] years of age or older to a
juvenile court for delinquency proceedings for contempt of court.
SECTION 6. Section 54.04(e), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) The Texas Youth Commission shall accept a person
properly committed to it by a juvenile court even though the person
may be 18 [17] years of age or older at the time of commitment.
SECTION 7. Section 58.003(c), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Subject to Subsection (b), a court may order the sealing
of records concerning a person adjudicated as having engaged in
delinquent conduct that violated a penal law of the grade of felony
only if:
(1) the person is 21 years of age or older;
(2) the person was not transferred by a juvenile court
under Section 54.02 to a criminal court for prosecution;
(3) the records have not been used as evidence in the
punishment phase of a criminal proceeding under Section 3(a),
Article 37.07, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
(4) the person has not been convicted of a penal law of
the grade of felony after becoming age 18 [17].
SECTION 8. Section 58.203, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 58.203. CERTIFICATION. The department shall certify
to the juvenile court or the juvenile probation department to which
a referral was made that resulted in information being submitted to
the juvenile justice information system that the records relating
to a person's juvenile case are subject to automatic restriction of
access if:
(1) the person is at least 21 years of age;
(2) the juvenile case did not include violent or
habitual felony conduct resulting in proceedings in the juvenile
court under Section 53.045;
(3) the juvenile case was not certified for trial in
criminal court under Section 54.02; and
(4) the department has not received a report in its
criminal history system that the person was granted deferred
adjudication for or convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor
punishable by confinement in jail for an offense committed after
the person became 18 [17] years of age.
SECTION 9. Section 264.302(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) This section applies to a child who:
(1) is seven years of age or older and under 18 [17]
years of age; and
(2) has not had the disabilities of minority for
general purposes removed under Chapter 31.
SECTION 10. Articles 45.0216(b) and (h), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(b) A person convicted of not more than one offense
described by Section 8.07(a)(4) or (5), Penal Code, while the
person was a child may, on or after the person's 18th [17th]
birthday, apply to the court in which the child was convicted to
have the conviction expunged as provided by this article.
(h) Records of a person under 18 [17] years of age relating
to a complaint dismissed as provided by Article 45.051 or 45.052 may
be expunged under this article.
SECTION 11. Article 45.058(h), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(h) In this article, "child" means a person who is:
(1) at least 10 years of age and younger than 18 [17]
years of age; and
(2) charged with or convicted of an offense that a
justice or municipal court has jurisdiction of under Article 4.11
or 4.14.
SECTION 12. Article 45.059(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) A peace officer taking into custody a person younger
than 18 [17] years of age for violation of a juvenile curfew
ordinance of a municipality or order of the commissioners court of a
county shall, without unnecessary delay:
(1) release the person to the person's parent,
guardian, or custodian;
(2) take the person before a justice or municipal
court to answer the charge; or
(3) take the person to a place designated as a juvenile
curfew processing office by the head of the law enforcement agency
having custody of the person.
SECTION 13. Section 61.093(b), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A child who is arrested or taken into custody under
Subsection (a) may be detained in any suitable place, including an
adult jail facility if the person is 18 [17] years of age or older,
until the child is returned to the custody of the commission or
transported to a commission facility.
SECTION 14. Section 8.07(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) Unless the juvenile court waives jurisdiction under
Section 54.02, Family Code, and certifies the individual for
criminal prosecution or the juvenile court has previously waived
jurisdiction under that section and certified the individual for
criminal prosecution, a person may not be prosecuted for or
convicted of any offense committed before reaching 18 [17] years of
age except an offense described by Subsections (a)(1)-(5).
SECTION 15. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) This Act applies only to conduct that occurs on or after
the effective date of this Act. Conduct violating the penal law of
this state occurs on or after the effective date of this Act if any
element of the violation occurs on or after that date.
(c) Conduct that occurs before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the conduct
occurred, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.