79R3894 KLA-D


By:  Talton                                                       H.B. No. 877



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to certain complaints and records with respect to certain 
child-care facilities and family homes; providing a criminal 
penalty.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 42.042(c), Human Resources Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(c)  The department shall provide a standard procedure for 
receiving and recording complaints.  The executive commissioner 
shall adopt rules regarding the receipt of anonymous complaints 
made regarding child-care facilities and family homes to limit the 
number of anonymous complaints investigated by the department.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, 
is amended by adding Sections 42.0446 and 42.0447 to read as 
follows:
	Sec. 42.0446.  REMOVAL OF CERTAIN INVESTIGATION INFORMATION 
FROM RECORDS.  The executive commissioner shall adopt rules 
providing a procedure by which the department removes from the 
department's records with respect to a child-care facility or 
registered family home information relating to a complaint alleging 
that the facility or family home failed to comply with the 
department's minimum standards if, at the conclusion of an 
investigation, the department determines that the complaint is 
false or lacks factual foundation.
	Sec. 42.0447.  FALSE REPORT;  CRIMINAL PENALTY.  (a)  A 
person commits an offense if the person knowingly or intentionally 
files a complaint alleging that a child-care facility or registered 
family home failed to comply with the department's minimum 
standards and the person knows the allegation is false or lacks 
factual foundation.
	(b)  An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor 
unless it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person has 
previously been convicted under this section, in which case the 
offense is a state jail felony.
	SECTION 3.  Section 42.0446, Human Resources Code, as added 
by this Act, applies to a complaint under Chapter 42, Human 
Resources Code, with respect to a child-care facility or registered 
family home that is pending on or filed on or after the effective 
date of this Act.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.