Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB1075 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Anderson of Dallas, Truitt, et al. H.B. No. 1075
2	2	(Senate Sponsor - Davis)
3	3	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 18, 2011;
4	4	April 20, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
5	5	Transportation and Homeland Security; May 17, 2011, reported
6	6	favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 17, 2011,
7	7	sent to printer.)
8	8
9	9
10	10	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
11	11	AN ACT
12	12	relating to an alert for a missing person with an intellectual
13	13	disability.
14	14	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	15	SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter L, Chapter 411,
16	16	Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
17	17	SUBCHAPTER L. STATEWIDE AMERICA'S MISSING: BROADCAST EMERGENCY
18	18	RESPONSE (AMBER) ALERT SYSTEM FOR ABDUCTED CHILDREN AND MISSING
19	19	PERSONS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES
20	20	SECTION 2. Section 411.351, Government Code, is amended by
21	21	amending Subdivisions (2) and (3) and adding Subdivisions (2-a) and
22	22	(3-a) to read as follows:
23	23	(2) "Alert system" means the statewide America's
24	24	Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER) alert system for
25	25	abducted children and missing persons with intellectual
26	26	disabilities.
27	27	(2-a) "Intellectual disability" means significantly
28	28	subaverage general intellectual functioning that is concurrent
29	29	with deficits in adaptive behavior and originates during the
30	30	developmental period. The term includes a pervasive developmental
31	31	disorder.
32	32	(3) "Local law enforcement agency" means a local law
33	33	enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the investigation of:
34	34	(A) the abduction of a child; or
35	35	(B) a missing person with an intellectual
36	36	disability.
37	37	(3-a) "Pervasive developmental disorder" means a
38	38	disorder that meets the criteria for a pervasive developmental
39	39	disorder established in the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical
40	40	Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric
41	41	Association.
42	42	SECTION 3. Section 411.352, Government Code, is amended to
43	43	read as follows:
44	44	Sec. 411.352. STATEWIDE AMERICA'S MISSING: BROADCAST
45	45	EMERGENCY RESPONSE (AMBER) ALERT SYSTEM FOR ABDUCTED CHILDREN AND
46	46	MISSING PERSONS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. With the
47	47	cooperation of the Texas Department of Transportation, the office
48	48	of the governor, and other appropriate law enforcement agencies in
49	49	this state, the department shall develop and implement a statewide
50	50	alert system to be activated on behalf of an abducted child or a
51	51	missing person with an intellectual disability.
52	52	SECTION 4. Section 411.355, Government Code, is amended to
53	53	read as follows:
54	54	Sec. 411.355. ACTIVATION. (a) On the request of a local
55	55	law enforcement agency regarding an abducted child, the department
56	56	shall activate the alert system and notify appropriate participants
57	57	in the alert system, as established by rule, if:
58	58	(1) the local law enforcement agency believes that a
59	59	child has been abducted, including a child who:
60	60	(A) is younger than 14 years of age; and
61	61	(B) regardless of whether the child departed
62	62	willingly with the other person, has been taken from the care and
63	63	custody of the child's parent or legal guardian without the
64	64	permission of the parent or legal guardian by another person who is:
65	65	(i) more than three years older than the
66	66	child; and
67	67	(ii) not related to the child by any degree
68	68	of consanguinity or affinity as defined under Subchapter B, Chapter
69	69	573, Government Code;
70	70	(2) the local law enforcement agency believes that the
71	71	abducted child is in immediate danger of serious bodily injury or
72	72	death or of becoming the victim of a sexual assault;
73	73	(3) the local law enforcement agency confirms that a
74	74	preliminary investigation has taken place that verifies the
75	75	abduction and eliminates alternative explanations for the child's
76	76	disappearance; and
77	77	(4) sufficient information is available to
78	78	disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the child, a
79	79	person suspected of abducting the child, or a vehicle suspected of
80	80	being used in the abduction.
81	81	(b) On the request of a local law enforcement agency
82	82	regarding a missing person with an intellectual disability, the
83	83	department shall activate the alert system and notify appropriate
84	84	participants in the alert system, as established by rule, if:
85	85	(1) the local law enforcement agency receives notice
86	86	of a missing person with an intellectual disability;
87	87	(2) the local law enforcement agency verifies that at
88	88	the time the person is reported missing:
89	89	(A) the person has an intellectual disability, as
90	90	determined according to the procedure provided by Section 593.005,
91	91	Health and Safety Code; and
92	92	(B) the person's location is unknown;
93	93	(3) the local law enforcement agency determines that
94	94	the person's disappearance poses a credible threat to the person's
95	95	health and safety; and
96	96	(4) sufficient information is available to
97	97	disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the person.
98	98	(c) The department may modify the criteria described by
99	99	Subsection (a) or (b) as necessary for the proper implementation of
100	100	the alert system.
101	101	SECTION 5. Section 411.356, Government Code, is amended to
102	102	read as follows:
103	103	Sec. 411.356. LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. Before
104	104	requesting activation of the alert system, a local law enforcement
105	105	agency must verify that the criteria described by Section
106	106	411.355(a) or (b), as applicable, have been satisfied. On
107	107	verification of the applicable criteria, the local law enforcement
108	108	agency shall immediately contact the department to request
109	109	activation and shall supply the necessary information on the forms
110	110	prescribed by the director.
111	111	SECTION 6. Section 411.358, Government Code, is amended to
112	112	read as follows:
113	113	Sec. 411.358. TERMINATION. The director shall terminate
114	114	any activation of the alert system with respect to a particular
115	115	abducted child or a particular missing person with an intellectual
116	116	disability if:
117	117	(1) the abducted child or missing person is recovered
118	118	or the situation [abduction] is otherwise resolved; or
119	119	(2) the director determines that the alert system is
120	120	no longer an effective tool for locating and recovering the
121	121	abducted child or missing person.
122	122	SECTION 7. Subchapter L, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
123	123	amended by adding Section 411.359 to read as follows:
124	124	Sec. 411.359. SYSTEM NAME. The director by rule may assign
125	125	a name other than America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response
126	126	(AMBER) to the alert system when the system is activated regarding a
127	127	missing person with an intellectual disability.
128	128	SECTION 8. Not later than December 1, 2011, the public
129	129	safety director of the Department of Public Safety of the State of
130	130	Texas shall adopt rules and issue directives necessary to implement
131	131	Subchapter L, Chapter 411, Government Code, as amended by this Act.
132	132	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
133	133	* * * * *