By: Whitmire, West S.B. No. 1114
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the prosecution of certain misdemeanor offenses
  committed by children and to school district law enforcement.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 45.058, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Subsections (i) and (j) to read as follows:
         (i)  If a law enforcement officer issues a citation or files
  a complaint in the manner provided by Article 45.018 for conduct by
  a child 12 years of age or older that is alleged to have occurred on
  school property or on a vehicle owned or operated by a county or
  independent school district, the officer shall submit to the court
  the offense report, a statement by a witness to the alleged conduct,
  and a statement by a victim of the alleged conduct, if any. An
  attorney representing the state may not proceed in a trial of an
  offense unless the law enforcement officer complied with the
  requirements of this subsection.
         (j)  Notwithstanding Subsection (g) or (g-1), a law
  enforcement officer may not issue a citation or file a complaint in
  the manner provided by Article 45.018 for conduct by a child younger
  than 12 years of age that is alleged to have occurred on school
  property or on a vehicle owned or operated by a county or
  independent school district.
         SECTION 2.  Section 25.0915, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
         (c)  A court shall dismiss a complaint or referral made by a
  school district under this section that is not made in compliance
  with Subsection (b).
         SECTION 3.  Subsection (a), Section 37.001, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The board of trustees of an independent school district
  shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established
  under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for
  the district.  The student code of conduct must be posted and
  prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for
  review at the office of the campus principal.  In addition to
  establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of
  conduct must:
               (1)  specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
  subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
  campus, [or] disciplinary alternative education program, or
  vehicle owned or operated by the district;
               (2)  specify conditions that authorize or require a
  principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
  to a disciplinary alternative education program;
               (3)  outline conditions under which a student may be
  suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
  Section 37.007;
               (4)  specify that consideration will be given, as a
  factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a
  disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or
  placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program,
  regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or
  discretionary action, to:
                     (A)  self-defense;
                     (B)  intent or lack of intent at the time the
  student engaged in the conduct;
                     (C)  a student's disciplinary history; or
                     (D)  a disability that substantially impairs the
  student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
  conduct;
               (5)  provide guidelines for setting the length of a
  term of:
                     (A)  a removal under Section 37.006; and
                     (B)  an expulsion under Section 37.007;
               (6)  address the notification of a student's parent or
  guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
  the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary
  alternative education program, or expulsion;
               (7)  prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit
  lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
  prohibitions; and
               (8)  provide, as appropriate for students at each grade
  level, methods, including options, for:
                     (A)  managing students in the classroom, [and] on
  school grounds, and on a vehicle owned or operated by the district;
                     (B)  disciplining students; and
                     (C)  preventing and intervening in student
  discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
  hit lists.
         SECTION 4.  Subsections (b), (d), and (f), Section 37.081,
  Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  In a peace officer's jurisdiction, a peace officer
  commissioned under this section:
               (1)  has the powers, privileges, and immunities of
  peace officers;
               (2)  may enforce all laws, including municipal
  ordinances, county ordinances, and state laws; and
               (3)  may, in accordance with Chapter 52, Family Code,
  or Article 45.058, Code of Criminal Procedure, take a child 
  [juvenile] into custody.
         (d)  A school district peace officer shall perform
  [administrative and] law enforcement duties for the school district
  as determined by the board of trustees of the school district.
  Those duties must include protecting:
               (1)  the safety and welfare of any person in the
  jurisdiction of the peace officer; and
               (2)  the property of the school district.
         (f)  The chief of police of the school district police
  department shall be accountable to the superintendent and shall
  report to the superintendent [or the superintendent's designee].
  School district police officers shall be supervised by the chief of
  police of the school district or the chief of police's designee and
  shall be licensed by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
  Standards and Education.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter C, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 37.085 to read as follows:
         Sec. 37.085.  ARRESTS PROHIBITED FOR CERTAIN CLASS C
  MISDEMEANORS. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
  warrant may not be issued for the arrest of a person for a Class C
  misdemeanor under this code committed when the person was younger
  than 17 years of age.
         SECTION 6.  Subsection (a), Section 37.124, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A person other than a primary or secondary grade student
  enrolled in the school commits an offense if the person, on school
  property or on public property within 500 feet of school property,
  alone or in concert with others, intentionally disrupts the conduct
  of classes or other school activities.
         SECTION 7.  Subsection (a), Section 37.126, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Section 37.125, a person other
  than a primary or secondary grade student commits an offense if the
  person intentionally disrupts, prevents, or interferes with the
  lawful transportation of children:
               (1)  to or from school on a vehicle owned or operated by
  a county or independent school district; or
               (2)  to or from an activity sponsored by a school on a
  vehicle owned or operated by a county or independent school
  district.
         SECTION 8.  Section 52.031, Family Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsections (d), (f), (i), and
  (j) to read as follows:
         (a-1)  A child accused of a Class C misdemeanor, other than a
  traffic offense, may be referred to a first offender program
  established under this section prior to the filing of a complaint
  with a criminal court.
         (d)  A law enforcement officer taking a child into custody
  for conduct described by Subsection (a) or before issuing a
  citation to a child for an offense described by Subsection (a-1) may
  refer the child to the law enforcement officer or agency designated
  under Subsection (b) for disposition under the first offender
  program and not refer the child to juvenile court for the conduct or
  file a complaint with a criminal court for the offense only if:
               (1)  the child has not previously been adjudicated as
  having engaged in delinquent conduct;
               (2)  the referral complies with guidelines for
  disposition under Subsection (c); and
               (3)  the officer reports in writing the referral to the
  agency, identifying the child and specifying the grounds for taking
  the child into custody or for accusing the child of an offense.
         (f)  The parent, guardian, or other custodian of the child
  must receive notice that the child has been referred for
  disposition under the first offender program. The notice must:
               (1)  state the grounds for taking the child into
  custody for conduct described by Subsection (a), or for accusing
  the child of an offense described by Subsection (a-1);
               (2)  identify the law enforcement officer or agency to
  which the child was referred;
               (3)  briefly describe the nature of the program; and
               (4)  state that the child's failure to complete the
  program will result in the child being referred to the juvenile
  court for the conduct or a complaint being filed with a criminal
  court for the offense.
         (i)  The case of a child who successfully completes the first
  offender program is closed and may not be referred to juvenile court
  or filed with a criminal court, unless the child is taken into
  custody under circumstances described by Subsection (j)(3).
         (j)  The case of a child referred for disposition under the
  first offender program shall be referred to juvenile court or, if
  the child is accused of an offense described by Subsection (a-1),
  filed with a criminal court if:
               (1)  the child fails to complete the program;
               (2)  the child or the parent, guardian, or other
  custodian of the child terminates the child's participation in the
  program before the child completes it; or
               (3)  the child completes the program but is taken into
  custody under Section 52.01 before the 90th day after the date the
  child completes the program for conduct other than the conduct for
  which the child was referred to the first offender program.
         SECTION 9.  Section 42.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding
  Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
         (a-1)  For purposes of Subsection (a), the term "public
  place" includes a public school campus or the school grounds on
  which a public school is located.
         SECTION 10.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
  this section, the changes in law made by this Act apply 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 at the time the offense was committed, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For the
  purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
  effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was
  committed before that date.
         (b)  Section 37.085, Education Code, as added by this Act,
  applies to an offense committed before, on, or after the effective
  date of this Act.
         SECTION 11.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.