BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 318

By: Raymond

Corrections

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Because Texas public schools are not equipped to adequately handle children who have mental health or substance abuse problems, these children are often referred to juvenile detention centers, which house more children today than ever before. Equipping schools to effectively handle such juveniles will help ensure that these individuals will be able to stay in school and complete their education without posing a threat to the well-being of other children in their community.

H.B. 318 requires the Public Safety Commission to establish a safe schools unit pilot program to provide participating school districts with information and other assistance concerning juvenile delinquency, juvenile substance abuse, and other law enforcement issues that affect school districts.   

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the public safety director of the Department of Public Safety in SECTIONS 1 and 2 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 318 amends the Government Code to add a temporary provision set to expire August 31, 2011, to require the Public Safety Commission to establish a safe schools unit pilot program in the Department of Public Safety for the 2010-2011 school year to provide school districts in counties that participate in the program with information and other assistance concerning juvenile delinquency, juvenile substance abuse, and other law enforcement issues that affect school districts. The bill requires the public safety director to select five counties to participate in the pilot program no later than February 1, 2010, and authorizes the director to select only a county that has a population of less than 500,000. The bill requires at least one of the counties the director selects to have a population of more than 190,000, to be located along the southern portion of the border between Texas and Mexico, and to contain a municipality with a population of more than 175,000. The bill requires each school district in a participating county to participate in the pilot program. The bill requires the director to administer the pilot program and to adopt rules to implement and administer the program as soon as practicable after the effective date of the bill. The bill requires the director, in adopting rules, to ensure that the pilot program addresses law enforcement issues that affect school districts, including the prevention of and intervention in juvenile delinquency and substance abuse.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2009.