81R301 KCR-D
By: Raymond H.B. No. 539
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a physical and mental examination of a child subject to
the juvenile justice system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 51.20(a), (b), (c), and (d), Family
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) At any stage of the proceedings under this title,
including when a child is initially detained in a facility operated
by the Texas Youth Commission, a pre-adjudication secure detention
facility, or a post-adjudication secure correctional facility, the
juvenile court may order a child who is referred to the juvenile
court or who is alleged by a petition or found to have engaged in
delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision to
be examined by a disinterested expert, including a physician,
psychiatrist, or psychologist, qualified by education and clinical
training in mental health or mental retardation and experienced in
forensic evaluation, to determine whether the child has a mental
illness as defined by Section 571.003, Health and Safety Code, [or]
is a person with mental retardation as defined by Section 591.003,
Health and Safety Code, or suffers from chemical dependency as
defined by Section 464.001, Health and Safety Code. If the
examination is to include a determination of the child's fitness to
proceed, an expert may be appointed to conduct the examination only
if the expert is qualified under Subchapter B, Chapter 46B, Code of
Criminal Procedure, to examine a defendant in a criminal case, and
the examination and the report resulting from an examination under
this subsection must comply with the requirements under Subchapter
B, Chapter 46B, Code of Criminal Procedure, for the examination and
resulting report of a defendant in a criminal case.
(b) If, after conducting an examination of a child ordered
under Subsection (a) and reviewing any other relevant information,
there is reason to believe that the child has a mental illness or
mental retardation or suffers from chemical dependency, the
probation department shall refer the child to the local mental
health or mental retardation authority or to another appropriate
and legally authorized agency or provider for evaluation and
services, unless the prosecuting attorney has filed a petition
under Section 53.04.
(c) If, while a child is under deferred prosecution
supervision or court-ordered probation, a qualified professional
determines that the child has a mental illness or mental
retardation or suffers from chemical dependency and the child is
not currently receiving treatment services for the mental illness,
[or] mental retardation, or chemical dependency, the probation
department shall refer the child to the local mental health or
mental retardation authority or to another appropriate and legally
authorized agency or provider for evaluation and services.
(d) A probation department shall report each referral of a
child to a local mental health or mental retardation authority or
another agency or provider made under Subsection (b) or (c) to the
Texas Juvenile Probation Commission in a format specified by the
commission.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.