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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to missing children and missing persons; providing a |
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criminal penalty. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Article 63.001(4), Code of Criminal Procedure, |
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is amended to read as follows: |
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(4) "Missing child" or "missing person" also includes |
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a person of any age who is missing and: |
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(A) is under proven physical or mental disability |
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or is senile, and because of one or more of these conditions is |
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subject to immediate danger or is a danger to others; |
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(B) is in the company of another person or is in a |
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situation the circumstances of which indicate that the missing |
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child's or missing person's safety is in doubt; [or] |
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(C) is unemancipated as defined by the law of |
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this state; or |
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(D) whose whereabouts or safety cannot be |
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confirmed or ascertained by the reporter or by a law enforcement |
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agency after reasonable inquiries or investigation. |
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SECTION 2. Section 25.03, Penal Code, is amended by |
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amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as |
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follows: |
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(a) A person commits an offense if the person takes or |
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retains a child younger than 18 years of age [when the person]: |
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(1) when the person knows that the person's taking or |
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retention violates the express terms of a judgment or order, |
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including a temporary order, of a court disposing of the child's |
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custody; [or] |
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(2) when the person has not been awarded custody of |
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the child by a court of competent jurisdiction, knows that a suit |
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for divorce or a civil suit or application for habeas corpus to |
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dispose of the child's custody has been filed, and takes the child |
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out of the geographic area of the counties composing the judicial |
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district if the court is a district court or the county if the court |
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is a statutory county court, without the permission of the court and |
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with the intent to deprive the court of authority over the child; or |
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(3) outside of the United States with the intent to |
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deprive a person entitled to possession of or access to the child of |
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that possession or access and without the permission of that |
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person. |
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(c-1) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under |
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Subsection (a)(3) that: |
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(1) the taking or retention of the child was prompted |
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by the commission or attempted commission of family violence, as |
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defined by Section 71.004, Family Code, against the child or the |
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actor by the person otherwise entitled to possession of or access to |
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the child; |
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(2) the taking or retention of the child was pursuant |
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to a valid order providing for possession of or access to the child; |
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or |
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(3) notwithstanding any violation of a valid order |
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providing for possession of or access to the child, the actor's |
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retention of the child was due only to circumstances beyond the |
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actor's control, and the actor promptly provided notice or made |
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reasonable attempts to provide notice of those circumstances to the |
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other person entitled to possession of or access to the child. |
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SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act in amending |
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Article 63.001(4), Code of Criminal Procedure, applies only to the |
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report of a missing child or a missing person made under Chapter 63, |
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Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by this Act, on or after the |
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effective date of this Act. The report of a missing child or a |
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missing person made before the effective date of this Act is |
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governed by the law in effect when the report was made, and the |
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former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act in amending |
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Section 25.03, Penal Code, applies only to an offense committed on |
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or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed |
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before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in |
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effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is |
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continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, |
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an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if |
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any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |