Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB539 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R301 KCR-D
2	2	By: Raymond H.B. No. 539
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to a physical and mental examination of a child subject to
8	8	the juvenile justice system.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Sections 51.20(a), (b), (c), and (d), Family
11	11	Code, are amended to read as follows:
12	12	(a) At any stage of the proceedings under this title,
13	13	including when a child is initially detained in a facility operated
14	14	by the Texas Youth Commission, a pre-adjudication secure detention
15	15	facility, or a post-adjudication secure correctional facility, the
16	16	juvenile court may order a child who is referred to the juvenile
17	17	court or who is alleged by a petition or found to have engaged in
18	18	delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision to
19	19	be examined by a disinterested expert, including a physician,
20	20	psychiatrist, or psychologist, qualified by education and clinical
21	21	training in mental health or mental retardation and experienced in
22	22	forensic evaluation, to determine whether the child has a mental
23	23	illness as defined by Section 571.003, Health and Safety Code, [or]
24	24	is a person with mental retardation as defined by Section 591.003,
25	25	Health and Safety Code, or suffers from chemical dependency as
26	26	defined by Section 464.001, Health and Safety Code. If the
27	27	examination is to include a determination of the child's fitness to
28	28	proceed, an expert may be appointed to conduct the examination only
29	29	if the expert is qualified under Subchapter B, Chapter 46B, Code of
30	30	Criminal Procedure, to examine a defendant in a criminal case, and
31	31	the examination and the report resulting from an examination under
32	32	this subsection must comply with the requirements under Subchapter
33	33	B, Chapter 46B, Code of Criminal Procedure, for the examination and
34	34	resulting report of a defendant in a criminal case.
35	35	(b) If, after conducting an examination of a child ordered
36	36	under Subsection (a) and reviewing any other relevant information,
37	37	there is reason to believe that the child has a mental illness or
38	38	mental retardation or suffers from chemical dependency, the
39	39	probation department shall refer the child to the local mental
40	40	health or mental retardation authority or to another appropriate
41	41	and legally authorized agency or provider for evaluation and
42	42	services, unless the prosecuting attorney has filed a petition
43	43	under Section 53.04.
44	44	(c) If, while a child is under deferred prosecution
45	45	supervision or court-ordered probation, a qualified professional
46	46	determines that the child has a mental illness or mental
47	47	retardation or suffers from chemical dependency and the child is
48	48	not currently receiving treatment services for the mental illness,
49	49	[or] mental retardation, or chemical dependency, the probation
50	50	department shall refer the child to the local mental health or
51	51	mental retardation authority or to another appropriate and legally
52	52	authorized agency or provider for evaluation and services.
53	53	(d) A probation department shall report each referral of a
54	54	child to a local mental health or mental retardation authority or
55	55	another agency or provider made under Subsection (b) or (c) to the
56	56	Texas Juvenile Probation Commission in a format specified by the
57	57	commission.
58	58	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.