By: Madden H.B. No. 3925
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the monitoring of certain high-risk sex offenders and
to information concerning certain sex offenders.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 62.0531 to read as follows:
Art. 62.0531. DETERMINATION OF PREDATORY RISK LEVEL. (a)
In this article, "sexually predatory conduct" means conduct that is
engaged in for the purpose of victimization and that:
(1) is directed toward a stranger, a person of casual
acquaintance with whom no substantial relationship exists, or a
person with whom a relationship has been established or promoted
for the purpose of victimization; and
(2) violates:
(A) Section 21.11(a)(1), 22.011, or 22.021,
Penal Code;
(B) Section 43.25, Penal Code;
(C) Section 20.04(a)(4), Penal Code, if the
conduct is committed with the intent to violate or abuse the victim
of the conduct sexually; or
(D) Section 30.02, Penal Code, if the conduct is
punishable under Subsection (d) of that section and is committed
with the intent to engage in conduct described by Paragraph (A) or
(C).
(b) In addition to assigning to a person a numeric risk
level of one, two, or three under Article 62.053(a), before a person
who will be subject to registration under this chapter and who will
be described by Article 62.063(b) on or after release is due to be
released from a penal institution, the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice or the Texas Youth Commission, as applicable, using the
dynamic risk assessment tool developed or adopted by the Council on
Sex Offender Treatment under Section 110.164, Occupations Code,
shall:
(1) determine the likelihood that the person will
engage in a predatory act of sexual violence after being released
from the institution; and
(2) assign to the person a predatory risk level of low,
medium, or high.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 62.063 to read as follows:
Art. 62.063. MONITORING OF CERTAIN HIGH-RISK REGISTRANTS.
(a) In this article, "monitoring system" means an electronic
monitoring service, global positioning satellite service, or other
appropriate technological service that is designed to track a
person's location.
(b) This article applies only to a person who is released
from a penal institution, who is required to register under this
chapter as the result of a reportable conviction or adjudication,
and who:
(1) is not under the supervision and control of:
(A) a juvenile probation office or an agency or
entity operating under contract with a juvenile probation office;
(B) the Texas Youth Commission;
(C) a community supervision and corrections
department; or
(D) the parole division of the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice; or
(2) has not been civilly committed under Chapter 841,
Health and Safety Code.
(c) A person described by Subsection (b) who, under Article
62.0531, is assigned a predatory risk level of high shall
participate in the monitoring system program described by
Subsection (d). A person's duty to participate in the program
expires on the third anniversary of the date the person is released
from the penal institution.
(d) The department shall implement and coordinate a
monitoring system program that tracks the location of persons
subject to this article. The monitoring system program implemented
under this subsection must require:
(1) the department to provide to each local law
enforcement authority designated as the primary registration
authority under this chapter for a person subject to this article
monitoring system equipment that is sufficient to track the
location of the person;
(2) each local law enforcement authority designated as
a person's primary registration authority under this chapter to use
the monitoring system equipment provided under Subdivision (1) to
verify the authenticity of any geographically verifiable
information contained in the registration form of a person subject
to this article, including the person's residence; and
(3) the manufacturer or vendor of the monitoring
system equipment provided to a local law enforcement authority
under Subdivision (1) to provide training and technological support
to the authority with respect to the equipment.
(e) A monitoring system that is part of the monitoring
system program described by Subsection (d) must track a person's
location and periodically provide a cumulative report of a tracked
person's location to the department. The monitoring system does
not have to be capable of tracking a person's location in real time
or providing a real-time report of a person's location to the
department.
(f) A person who is not indigent and who is required to
participate in the monitoring system program described by
Subsection (d) is responsible for the cost of the monitoring system
and monthly shall pay to the person's primary registration
authority and to the department the amount that the primary
registration authority or department, as applicable, determines is
necessary to defray that entity's cost of operating the system with
respect to the person during the previous month.
(g) The director of the department shall adopt rules as
necessary to implement and coordinate the monitoring system program
described by Subsection (d).
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 110, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 110.164 to read as follows:
Sec. 110.164. DYNAMIC RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL. (a) The
council shall develop or adopt a dynamic risk assessment tool to be
used in determining the likelihood that a person confined in a penal
institution will engage in a predatory act of sexual violence after
being released from the institution.
(b) The dynamic risk assessment tool must enable the
assignment to a person of a predatory risk level of low, medium, or
high.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 62.0052 to read as follows:
Art. 62.0052. ELECTRONIC MAIL REPORTS FOR STATE
LEGISLATORS. (a) The department shall maintain an electronic mail
report service to which a member of the house of representatives or
the senate of this state may electronically subscribe.
(b) The electronic mail report service maintained under
Subsection (a) must:
(1) allow a subscribing representative or senator to
request for each zip code any portion of which is located in the
representative's or senator's district notification of:
(A) the release from a penal institution or
placement on deferred adjudication community supervision,
community supervision, or juvenile probation of a person who
expects to reside or resides in that zip code and is required to
register under this chapter; and
(B) any change in address of a person who expects
to reside or resides in that zip code and is required to register
under this chapter; and
(2) not less frequently than monthly, deliver to the
subscribing representative or senator a report containing the
information described by Subdivision (1).
(c) The department must include any public information
described by Article 62.005 in an electronic mail report sent to a
subscribing representative or senator.
SECTION 5. (a) Articles 62.0531 and 62.063, Code of
Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, apply only to a person who
is released from a penal institution on or after January 1, 2008. A
person who is released from a penal institution before January 1,
2008, is governed by the law in effect at the time the person is
released from the penal institution, and that former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The Department of Public Safety shall implement the
monitoring system program described by Article 62.063, Code of
Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, so that the program is
fully functional not later than January 1, 2008.
(c) The Department of Public Safety shall issue a Request
for Qualifications or Proposal not later than September 15, 2007.
The selection process must include a side-by-side comparison
testing the products submitted in the RFQ/P. In awarding a
contract, the test results, product reliability, functionality,
and public safety must be given, at a minimum, equal consideration
to cost.
(d) The Department of Public Safety may only receive
responses from and contract with an Original Equipment
Manufacturer.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2007.