By: Patrick  S.B. No. 844
         (In the Senate - Filed February 22, 2011; March 1, 2011,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
  April 7, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 6,
  Nays 1; April 7, 2011, sent to printer.)
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the offense of escape from custody by a person lawfully
  detained.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subsections (a) and (c), Section 38.06, Penal
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A person commits an offense if the person [he] escapes
  from custody when the person [he] is:
               (1)  under arrest for, lawfully detained for, charged
  with, or convicted of an offense;
               (2)  in custody pursuant to a lawful order of a court;
               (3)  detained in a secure detention facility, as that
  term is defined by Section 51.02, Family Code; or
               (4)  in the custody of a juvenile probation officer for
  violating an order imposed by the juvenile court under Section
  52.01, Family Code.
         (c)  An offense under this section is a felony of the third
  degree if the actor:
               (1)  is under arrest for, lawfully detained for,
  charged with, or convicted of a felony;
               (2)  is confined in a secure correctional facility; or
               (3)  is committed to a secure correctional facility, as
  defined by Section 51.02, Family Code, other than a halfway house,
  operated by or under contract with the Texas Youth Commission.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
  An offense committed before the effective date of this Act 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 the effective date of
  this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that
  date.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
 
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