| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to notification and disclosure of records and information |
|
|
concerning an investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect to |
|
|
county or district attorneys. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 261.1055, Family Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 261.1055. NOTIFICATION AND RELEASE OF CERTAIN |
|
|
INFORMATION TO COUNTY OR DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. (a) A county or |
|
|
district attorney may inform the department that the county or |
|
|
district attorney wishes to receive notification of some or all |
|
|
reports of suspected abuse or neglect of children who were in the |
|
|
county at the time the report was made or who were in the county at |
|
|
the time of the alleged abuse or neglect. |
|
|
(b) If the county or district attorney makes the |
|
|
notification under Subsection (a) [this section], the department |
|
|
shall, on receipt of a report of suspected abuse or neglect, |
|
|
immediately notify the county or district attorney as requested and |
|
|
the department shall forward a copy of the reports to the county or |
|
|
district attorney on request. |
|
|
(c) If the conduct that is the subject of an investigation |
|
|
of abuse or neglect constitutes an offense against a child under one |
|
|
of the following provisions of the Penal Code, on the arrest of a |
|
|
person for the offense a county or district attorney may request a |
|
|
copy of the report of the abuse or neglect investigation prepared by |
|
|
the department under Section 261.308 and all available information |
|
|
concerning the investigation: |
|
|
(1) Section 19.02 (murder); |
|
|
(2) Section 19.03 (capital murder); |
|
|
(3) Section 19.04 (manslaughter); |
|
|
(4) Section 20A.02(a)(7) or (8) (trafficking of |
|
|
persons); |
|
|
(5) Section 21.02 (continuous sexual abuse of young |
|
|
child or disabled individual); |
|
|
(6) Section 21.11 (indecency with a child); |
|
|
(7) Section 22.011 (sexual assault); |
|
|
(8) Section 22.02 (aggravated assault); |
|
|
(9) Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual assault); |
|
|
(10) Section 22.04 (injury to a child, elderly |
|
|
individual, or disabled individual); |
|
|
(11) Section 22.041 (abandoning or endangering a |
|
|
child, elderly individual, or disabled individual); |
|
|
(12) Section 25.02 (prohibited sexual conduct); |
|
|
(13) Section 43.05(a)(2) (compelling prostitution); |
|
|
(14) Section 43.25 (sexual performance by a child); or |
|
|
(15) Section 43.26 (possession or promotion of child |
|
|
pornography). |
|
|
(d) If a county or district attorney makes a request under |
|
|
Subsection (c), the department shall forward a copy of the |
|
|
investigation report and any available information requested, |
|
|
including information that is confidential under Section 261.201, |
|
|
not later than the 30th day after the date of the request. |
|
|
(e) The investigation report and information released by |
|
|
the department to a county or district attorney under Subsection |
|
|
(d) is not subject to public release by the county or district |
|
|
attorney under Chapter 552, Government Code, and may only be |
|
|
disclosed for purposes consistent with Articles 39.14, 39.15, and |
|
|
39.151, Code of Criminal Procedure. |
|
|
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |