81R4279 JRJ-D
By: Kolkhorst H.B. No. 504
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of an offense for a parent's contribution
to a child's failure to comply with a sentence or court order
relating to a disruptive activity or disruption of class on school
property.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.127 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.127. PARENT CONTRIBUTING TO CHILD'S FAILURE TO
COMPLY WITH TERMS OF SENTENCE OR COURT ORDER. (a) In this section:
(1) "Child" means a person under 17 years of age.
(2) "Parent" includes a person standing in parental
relation. The term does not include a person as to whom the
parent-child relationship has been terminated or a person not
entitled to possession of or access to a child under a court order.
(b) A parent commits an offense if:
(1) the parent's child is convicted of or adjudicated
as having engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a
need for supervision for conduct constituting the commission of an
offense under Section 37.123, 37.124, or 37.126;
(2) the child has not complied with the terms of the
child's sentence or a court order relating to the conviction or
adjudication; and
(3) the parent with criminal negligence has
contributed to, caused, or encouraged the child to fail to comply
with the terms of the child's sentence or a court order relating to
the conviction or adjudication.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
If the court orders deferred disposition for the parent under
Article 45.051, Code of Criminal Procedure, the court may require
the parent to provide personal services to a charitable or
educational institution as a condition of deferral.
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a fine collected
under this section shall be deposited as follows:
(1) one-half shall be deposited to the credit of the
operating fund of, as applicable:
(A) the school district in which the parent's
child attends school;
(B) the open-enrollment charter school the
parent's child attends; or
(C) the juvenile justice alternative education
program that the parent's child has been ordered to attend; and
(2) one-half shall be deposited to the credit of:
(A) if the offense is prosecuted in a municipal
court, the general fund of the municipality in which the offense is
prosecuted; or
(B) if the offense is prosecuted in a court that
is not a municipal court, the general fund of the county in which
the offense is prosecuted.
(e) In the case of a parent whose child attends a private
school, a fine collected under this section shall be deposited in
its entirety to the credit of:
(1) if the offense is prosecuted in a municipal court,
the general fund of the municipality in which the offense is
prosecuted; or
(2) if the offense is prosecuted in a court that is not
a municipal court, the general fund of the county in which the
offense is prosecuted.
(f) If a parent refuses to obey a court order entered under
this section, the court may punish the parent for contempt of court
under Section 21.002, Government Code.
(g) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
shall notify a student's parent in writing at the beginning of the
school year of the provisions of Subsections (b), (c), and (f). The
fact that a parent does not receive a notice under this subsection
does not create a defense to prosecution under this section.
(h) For the 2009-2010 school year, a school district or
open-enrollment charter school shall provide the notice required
under Subsection (g) as soon as practicable after the beginning of
the school year. This subsection expires September 1, 2010.
SECTION 2. Section 37.127, Education Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a parent's conduct relating to a child's
failure to comply with the terms of a sentence or a court order
imposed or rendered on or after the effective date of this Act. A
parent's conduct relating to a child's failure to comply with the
terms of a sentence or a court order imposed or rendered before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the
time the failure to comply occurred, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.