BILL ANALYSIS
By: Dutton
Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Juvenile justice practitioners, juvenile court judges, prosecutors and juvenile probation officers assisted in making recommendations for this juvenile justice legislation. Most significant were recommendations related to the inter-county transfer of supervision of youth on probation who move away from the county where they were adjudicated. Clarifying substantive and technical refinements are provided to the procedures known as Inter-County Transfer of Probation Supervision which was originally enacted during the 79th Texas Legislature in 2005. These amendments include clarifying that transfer of probation supervision is inapplicable to counties within the same judicial district being served by one juvenile probation department; expanding required information that must accompany a child’s case upon transfer to a receiving county; requiring sending and receiving county to establish official start date for transfer of supervision; providing a mechanism to collect and disseminate victim restitution; addressing the transfer of sex offenders; and procedures related to deferred prosecution transfer. These areas of concern and a number of other proposed amendments reflect the changing needs of a juvenile justice system that has increased in size, sophistication and complexity since the major reforms of the 74th Legislature in 1995.
There are a number of additional substantive, clarifying, and technical amendments covering a wide range of concerns that have come to light since the last legislative session. Amendments to the Family Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Penal Code and other codes are included that relate to such things as clarifying that a magistrate’s determination of the voluntariness of a juvenile’s statement must be reduced to writing; clarifying what entities can legally operate juvenile pre-adjudication detention and post-adjudication secure correctional facilities in Texas; authorizing the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission to deny, revoke or suspend registration of any juvenile facility that fails to comply with minimum standards; adding the offense of criminal conspiracy to commit an offense enumerated in the determinate sentence act to the determinate sentence provisions; defining indeterminate sentence to the Texas Youth Commission; authorizing detention of a child after a disposition hearing pending transport to a facility, the Texas Youth Commission or pending medical treatment; clarifying furlough procedures from mental health facilities for youth committing 3g offenses; clarifying interagency sharing of information with the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission; authorizing the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and local counties to create and maintain a statewide juvenile information and case management system; creates provisions that allow a juvenile probation department to utilize unclaimed restitution payments for the same purposes for which the county may spend juvenile state aid; clarifying the definition of abuse, neglect and exploitation; elevating inhalant abuse to Level 2 of Progressive Sanctions; clarifying definition of juvenile probation program; expanding infant care and parenting program at Texas Youth Commission as well as limit the maximum capacity for residential facilities in the Texas Youth Commission to 3,000, with only a maximum of 100 juveniles per residential facility and requires that the facilities be located in or near the county in which a juvenile resides. C.S.H.B.2884 also authorizes the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission to issue subpoenas when necessary to facilitate their investigations of abuse, neglect or exploitation and any audits or monitoring responsibilities; including juvenile facilities in various penal code offenses; and adding employees of TYC and juvenile probation departments to the offense of Violation of Civil Rights of Person in Custody; Improper Sexual Relations with Person in Custody.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by adding investigators commissioned by the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission to the list of who is considered a peace officer, and makes other technical changes.
SECTION 2. Amends Sec. 51.03(b), to make a technical correction to the new chapter and section in the Health and Safety Code. Previous Chapter 484 related to inhalant abuse was repealed and replaced by Chapter 485.
SECTION 3. Amends Sec. 51.0412, Family Code, to provide the juvenile court with jurisdiction in a motion to transfer determinate sentence probation to adult court for a juvenile age 18 or older who has fled the jurisdiction before a transfer hearing can be held if the motion for transfer has timely been filed prior to the juvenile becoming 18 and the prosecutor has exercised due diligence to complete the transfer proceeding prior to the probationer’s 18th birthday.
SECTION 4. Amends Sec. 51.072, Family Code, by amending Subsections (b), (e), (f), (j), (k), (m), and (n) and adding Subsections (f-1) and (m-1) to make clarifying changes to the transfer of probation supervision between counties (interim supervision) procedures:
Subsection (b) is amended to clarify that if the receiving and sending county are both within the same judicial district served by one juvenile probation department, then a transfer of probation supervision is not required.
Subsection (e) is amended to require the sending county juvenile probation department to provide the receiving county juvenile probation department with additional information including the race of the child, telephone number of the person with whom the child will reside, and the name and telephone number of the child’s school in the receiving county.
Subsection (f) is amended to increase the timeframe from 5 to 10 business days in which the sending county juvenile probation department must provide required documentation to the receiving county juvenile probation department. Subsection (f-1) is added which requires the inter-county transfer officers in the sending and receiving counties to agree on the official start date for interim supervision. The start date must begin no later than 3 business days after the date the required documents have been received and accepted by the receiving county.
Subsection (j) is amended to require the receiving county juvenile probation department to provide the sending county with written documentation of the incidents of probation violation upon which the request to resume direct supervision is based.
Subsection (k) is amended to require that during the period of interim supervision, the receiving county must collect and distribute to the victim monetary restitution payments in the manner specified by the sending county. At the conclusion of interim supervision, the receiving county must collect and distribute any remaining restitution payments directly to the victim.
Subsection (m) is amended to require that upon the transfer of permanent supervision by the sending county juvenile court, the sending county juvenile probation department shall promptly send the permanent supervision order and all required related documents to the receiving county.
Subsection (m-1) is added to require the sending county to resume supervision of the child if the child on interim supervision moves to a new county and is no longer in the receiving county prior to the expiration of the 180 days of interim supervision.
Subsection (n) is amended to clarify that the period of interim supervision of a child placed on determinate sentence probation does not expire until the child has satisfactorily completed the greater of either 180 days or one- third of the term of probation (including extensions). Further clarifies that if the state elects to initiate transfer proceedings to adult court, the juvenile court of the sending county may order transfer of permanent supervision before the expiration of the interim supervision period.
SECTION 5. Amends Sec. 51.073, Family Code, by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d-1) related to transfer of probation supervision between counties (permanent supervision):
Subsection (c) is amended to clarify that the juvenile must be brought before the receiving county juvenile court to impose new or different conditions of probation than those originally ordered by the sending county or ordered by the receiving county during interim supervision.
Subsection (d-1) is added to give the receiving county jurisdiction to conduct a sex offender registration hearing on the final transfer of a case involving a child adjudicated for an offense requiring registration as a sex offender. The receiving county may consider the recommendation of the sending county.
SECTION 13. Amends Chapter 54 of the Family Code by adding Section 54.0481 to require that a juvenile probation department that receives a payment to a victim, as an order of a juvenile court order, for restitution shall immediately deposit the payment in an interest-bearing account in the county treasury and notify the victim by certified mail that the payment has been received. The juvenile probation department must then promptly remit the payment to a victim who makes a claim for payment. The department is required to make and document a good faith effort to locate and notify the victim of the unclaimed payment on or before the fifth anniversary of the date the juvenile probation department receives a payment for a victim. A juvenile probation department must pay the victim the amount of the original payment, if a victim claims a payment on or before the fifth anniversary of the date on which the juvenile probation department mailed a notice to the victim. However, if a victim does not claim a payment on or before the fifth anniversary of the mailed notice, the department has no liability to the victim or anyone else in relation to the payment and shall transfer the payment from the interest-bearing account to a special fund of the county treasury, the unclaimed juvenile restitution fund. The funds in the juvenile restitution fund may be spent only for the same purposes for which the county may spend juvenile state aid.
SECTION 25. Amends Subchapter C, Chapter 61 of the Human Resources Code by adding Sections 61.055 and 61.056 to provide that the total maximum capacity for residential facilities, including halfway houses, operated by or under contract with the commission is 3,000. However, on the approval of the governor, the commission may confine more than 3,000 children in residential facilities operated by or under contract with the commission if the commission determines that the number of children committed to the commission who are in need of placement in residential facilities exceeds 3,000.
To ensure that a child committed to the commission is confined in a residential facility located in or near the county in which the child resides, the commission shall operate one or more community-based residential facilities in each county in this state that has a population of at least 600,000 and may operate a community-based residential facility in any other county. Additionally, the commission may confine a child committed to the commission only in a community-based residential facility described by Subsection (a).
Moreover, the commission may confine a child committed to the commission only in a residential facility that is located in the county in which the child resides. If the commission does not operate a residential facility in that particular county, the child may be confined only in the residential facility that is nearest to the county in which the child resides.
The commission may not confine more than 100 children in any residential facility operated by or under contract with the commission, no later than September 1, 2008, the commission shall transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice any residential facility designed to house more than 100 children that is owned by this state and operated by or under contract with the commission. This subsection expires October 1, 2008.
SECTION 32. Amends Sec. 38.114, Penal Code, by adding Subsection (d) to the offense of Contraband in Correctional Facility to expand the definition of “correctional facility” to include a juvenile secure correctional facility and a secure detention facility as those terms are defined in Section 51.02, Family Code.
SECTION 33. Amends Sec. 39.04(f), Penal Code, to expand the offense of Violations of the Civil Rights of Person in Custody; Improper Sexual Activity with Person in Custody to include employees of the Texas Youth Commission and local juvenile probation departments.
SECTION 34. Repeals Sections 61.049, 141.0432, 141.0433, and 141.0434 of the Human Resources Code relating to contracting by the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission with private vendors for construction, maintenance, operation, management and financing of youth boot camps.
SECTION 36. (a) Provides for the prospective application of the Act for conduct, or any element of a penal law violation, occurring on or after the effective date.
(b) Provides for the continuing effectiveness of laws that were in effect at the time of conduct occurring before the effective date.
(c) Only applies to an order by a juvenile court rendered on or after the effective date of this Act. An appeal of an order rendered before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the order was rendered, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(d) Section 54.0481, Family Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a payment of restitution under a juvenile court order received by a juvenile probation department on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 37. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2007
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
C.S.H.B.2884 modifies the original H.B.2884 by including investigators commissioned by the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission as peace officers, to be employed by the Commission for the purpose of investigating allegations of abuse, neglect, and exploitation in juvenile justice programs and facilities. Moreover, peace officers employed and commissioned must be certified by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. C.S.H.B.2884 further modifies H.B.2884 by requiring that a juvenile probation department that receives a payment to a victim, as an order of a juvenile court order, for restitution shall immediately deposit the payment in an interest-bearing account in the county treasury and notify the victim by certified mail that the payment has been received. The juvenile probation department must then promptly remit the payment to a victim who makes a claim for payment. Lastly, C.S.H.B.2884 adds a provision that limits the maximum capacity for residential facilities in the Texas Youth Commission to 3,000, with only a maximum of 100 juveniles per residential facility and requires that the facilities be located in or near the county in which a juvenile resides. Also would provide that those facilities that are not longer being utilized by the Texas Youth Commission be transferred over the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.