BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1793

By: Frullo

Homeland Security & Public Safety

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Every year, approximately 800,000 children go missing in the United States, many of whom become vulnerable to child sex trafficking. Recently, the Texas Legislature sought to provide law enforcement agencies better tools to identify children who were at high risk for trafficking and other exploitative crimes. These law enforcement agencies have expressed the need to refine the parameters for data collection to include children younger than 14 years of age categorized as being at high risk for such crimes. H.B. 1793 seeks to address this recommendation.

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.

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.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 1793 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require Department of Public Safety (DPS) rules regarding reports of missing children to include procedures for a local law enforcement agency that receives a report of a missing child who is under 14 years of age and otherwise determined by the local law enforcement agency or DPS to be at a high risk of human trafficking, sexual assault, exploitation, abuse, or neglectful supervision.

H.B. 1793 authorizes a local law enforcement agency, in entering the required information into the national crime information center missing person file regarding a report of a missing child who is at least 14 years of age and who a local law enforcement agency or DPS determines is at a high risk of human trafficking, sexual assault, exploitation, abuse, or neglectful supervision, to indicate that the child is at a high risk of harm and to include any other relevant information.

H.B. 1793 amends the Government Code to change the entity that is authorized to award a missing or exploited children prevention grant to an eligible nonprofit organization from DPS to the governor's criminal justice division. The bill removes DPS authority to adopt rules to implement those grants.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2015.