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By:  Zaffirini                                                            S.B. No. 53



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to grand juror training regarding sexual assault issues.             
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 19, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended by adding Article 19.43 to read as follows:
	Art. 19.43.  GRAND JUROR TRAINING REGARDING SEXUAL ASSAULT 
ISSUES.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), the court shall 
ensure that each grand juror receives training regarding issues of 
sexual assault, including issues related to victims and 
perpetrators of sexual assault.
	(b)  The court may excuse a grand juror from the training if 
the court finds that the juror is unlikely to address sexual assault 
issues during the juror's term of service.
	(c)  The court shall adopt rules necessary to accomplish the 
purposes of this article.  The rules must:
		(1)  require each grand juror to complete at least two 
hours of training not later than the third day after the date the 
juror is impaneled;
		(2)  provide a method for certification of completion 
of the training; and
		(3)  provide for training by a sexual assault program, 
as defined by Section 420.003, Government Code, located within the 
judicial district of the court or, if there is not a program located 
within the district, another entity with expertise in sexual 
assault issues.
	(d)  On the court's request, the sexual assault program or 
other entity, as applicable, shall provide the training using a 
curriculum approved by a statewide association committed to ending 
sexual violence in this state.
	(e)  The curriculum must include information about:                     
		(1)  case law, statutory law, and procedural rules 
relating to sexual assault;
		(2)  methods for providing protection for victims of 
sexual assault; 
		(3)  available community and state resources for 
counseling and other aid to victims and perpetrators of sexual 
assault;
		(4)  dynamics and effects of being a victim of sexual 
assault;  and  
		(5)  recurring characteristics of perpetrators of 
sexual assault.    
	SECTION 2.  (a)  A district court shall adopt the rules 
required by Article 19.43, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by 
this Act, not later than October 1, 2003.
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to a 
grand jury that is impaneled on or after the effective date of this 
Act.  A grand jury that is impaneled before the effective date of 
this Act is covered by the law in effect when the jury was 
impaneled, and the former law is continued in effect for that 
purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.