79R7743 SLO-D

By:  Raymond                                                      H.B. No. 2357



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a physical and mental examination of a child subject to 
the juvenile justice system.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 51.20, Family Code, is amended to read as 
follows:       
	Sec. 51.20.  PHYSICAL OR MENTAL EXAMINATION.  (a)  At any 
stage of the proceedings under this title, including when a child is 
initially detained in a facility operated by the Texas Youth 
Commission, a pre-adjudication secure  detention facility, or a 
post-adjudication secure correctional facility, the juvenile court 
may order a child who is referred to the juvenile court or who is 
alleged by a petition or found to have engaged in delinquent conduct 
or conduct indicating a need for supervision to be examined by a 
disinterested expert, including a physician, psychiatrist, or 
psychologist, qualified by education and clinical training in 
mental health or mental retardation and experienced in forensic 
evaluation, to determine whether the child has a mental illness as 
defined by Section 571.003, Health and Safety Code, [or] is a person 
with mental retardation as defined by Section 591.003, Health and 
Safety Code, or suffers from chemical dependency.   If the 
examination is to include a determination of the child's fitness to 
proceed, an expert may be appointed to conduct the examination only 
if the expert is qualified under Subchapter B, Chapter 46B, Code of 
Criminal Procedure, to examine a defendant in a criminal case, and 
the examination and the report resulting from an examination under 
this subsection must comply with the requirements under Subchapter 
B, Chapter 46B, Code of Criminal Procedure, for the examination and 
resulting report of a defendant in a criminal case.
	(b)  If, after conducting an examination of a child ordered 
under Subsection (a) and reviewing any other relevant information, 
there is reason to believe that the child has a mental illness or 
mental retardation or suffers from chemical dependency, the 
probation department shall refer the child to the local mental 
health or mental retardation authority for evaluation and services, 
unless the prosecuting attorney has filed a petition under Section 
53.04.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.