79R5002 JD-D

By:  Riddle                                                       H.B. No. 875



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to written notification to a parent of a minor who is 
issued a citation for a traffic offense.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 543.005, Transportation Code, is amended 
to read as follows:
	Sec. 543.005.  PROMISE TO APPEAR; RELEASE.  Except as 
provided by Section 543.0051, to [To] secure release, the person 
arrested must make a written promise to appear in court by signing 
the written notice prepared by the arresting officer.  The 
signature may be obtained on a duplicate form or on an electronic 
device capable of creating a copy of the signed notice.  The 
arresting officer shall retain the paper or electronic original of 
the notice and deliver the copy of the notice to the person 
arrested.  The officer shall then promptly release the person from 
custody.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 543, Transportation Code, 
is amended by adding Section 543.0051 to read as follows:
	Sec. 543.0051.  CERTAIN PERSONS YOUNGER THAN 18; PROMISE TO 
APPEAR; RELEASE.  (a)  In addition to the requirements of Section 
543.005, to secure release, a minor resident of this state who is 
arrested must provide the arresting officer with the name and 
mailing address of at least one of the minor's parents.
	(b)  If the mailing address of the minor's parent is in this 
state, the law enforcement agency that employs the arresting 
officer shall mail to that parent a copy of the notice delivered to 
and signed by the minor.  The copy must be mailed not later than the 
seventh day after the date the minor was arrested.
	(c)  In this section:                                                   
		(1)  "Minor" means an individual younger than 18 years 
of age for whom the disabilities of minority have not been removed.
		(2)  "Parent" includes a person standing in parental 
relation, a managing conservator, or a custodian.
	SECTION 3.  Article 14.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to 
read as follows:
	(a)  Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (b) and 
(c), in each case enumerated in this Code, the person making the 
arrest or the person having custody of the person arrested shall 
take the person arrested or have him taken without unnecessary 
delay, but not later than 48 hours after the person is arrested, 
before the magistrate who may have ordered the arrest, before some 
magistrate of the county where the arrest was made without an order, 
or, if necessary to provide more expeditiously to the person 
arrested the warnings described by Article 15.17 of this Code, 
before a magistrate in a county bordering the county in which the 
arrest was made.  The magistrate shall immediately perform the 
duties described in Article 15.17 of this Code.
	(c)  If the peace officer issuing a citation under Subsection 
(b) is charging a minor resident of this state with committing a 
Class C misdemeanor traffic offense to which Subchapter A, Chapter 
543, Transportation Code, does not apply, the minor must provide 
the peace officer the name and mailing address of at least one of 
the minor's parents.  The citation must include the name and address 
of that parent.  If the parent's mailing address is in this state, 
not later than the seventh day after the date the citation was 
issued, the law enforcement agency that employs the peace officer 
shall mail to that parent a copy of the citation.  In this 
subsection:
		(1)  "Minor" means an individual younger than 18 years 
of age for whom the disabilities of minority have not been removed.
		(2)  "Parent" includes a person standing in parental 
relation, a managing conservator, or a custodian.
	SECTION 4.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies 
only to an offense committed on or after September 1, 2005.
	(b)  An offense committed before September 1, 2005, is 
covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the 
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.  For purposes of 
this section, an offense was committed before September 1, 2005, if 
any element of the offense was committed before that date.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.