BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 1447 |
By: Dale |
Criminal Jurisprudence |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties contend that a protective order is not currently required to be issued with respect to a person convicted of sexual assault and other related offenses until after the offender has been released from prison. The parties raise concern that issuing such an order after an offender's release from prison is sometimes impossible as law enforcement often has a difficult time locating the offender after release. C.S.H.B. 1447 seeks to provide victims of sexual assault and other related offenses greater peace of mind and to ease a victim's burden of filing an application for a protective order by revising the laws relating to such a protective order.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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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.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 1447 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize a person who is a victim of a continuous trafficking of persons offense to file an application for a protective order without regard to the relationship between the applicant and the alleged offender. The bill entitles certain victims of sexual assault or abuse, stalking, or trafficking and the victim's parent or guardian to the following rights: · to have the attorney representing the state, on request of the victim or the victim's parent or guardian, as applicable, and subject to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, file a protective order application on behalf of the victim; · to be informed that the victim or the victim's parent or guardian, as applicable, may file a protective order application; to be informed of the court in which the application may be filed; to be informed that, on request of the victim or victim's parent or guardian, as applicable, and subject to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, the attorney representing the state is required to file the application; · to be given by the court, if the victim or the victim's parent or guardian, as applicable, is present when the defendant is convicted or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision, the information of the court in which the protective order application may be filed, and if the court has jurisdiction over protective order applications, the right to file an application immediately following the defendant's conviction or placement on deferred adjudication community supervision; and · to be given by the attorney representing the state the information of the court in which a protective order application may be filed, if the victim or victim's parent or guardian, as applicable, is not present when the defendant is convicted or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 1447 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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