H.B. No. 1610
AN ACT
relating to educator misconduct and employment sanctions for
certain misconduct; providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.006, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) A superintendent or director of a school district
shall complete an investigation of an educator that is based on
reasonable cause to believe the educator may have engaged in
misconduct described by Subsection (b)(2)(A), despite the
educator's resignation from district employment before completion
of the investigation.
SECTION 2. Section 21.058, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsections (c-1),
(c-2), and (e) to read as follows:
(a) The procedures described by Subsections (b) and (c)
apply [This section applies] only:
(1) to conviction of a felony offense under Title 5,
Penal Code, or an offense on conviction of which a defendant is
required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of
Criminal Procedure; and
(2) if the victim of the offense is under 18 years of
age.
(c) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that receives notice under Subsection (b) of the revocation of a
certificate issued under this subchapter shall:
(1) immediately remove the person whose certificate
has been revoked from campus or from an administrative office, as
applicable, to prevent the person from having any contact with a
student; and
(2) if the person is employed under a probationary,
continuing, or term contract under this chapter:
(A) suspend the person without pay;
(B) provide the person with written notice that
the person's contract is void as provided by Subsection (c-2); and
(C) [as soon as practicable,] terminate the
employment of the person as soon as practicable [in accordance with
the person's contract and with this subchapter].
(c-1) If a school district or open-enrollment charter
school becomes aware that a person employed by the district or
school under a probationary, continuing, or term contract under
this chapter has been convicted of or received deferred
adjudication for a felony offense, and the person is not subject to
Subsection (c), the district or school may:
(1) suspend the person without pay;
(2) provide the person with written notice that the
person's contract is void as provided by Subsection (c-2); and
(3) terminate the employment of the person as soon as
practicable.
(c-2) A person's probationary, continuing, or term contract
is void if the school district or open-enrollment charter school
takes action under Subsection (c)(2)(B) or (c-1)(2).
(e) Action taken by a school district or open-enrollment
charter school under Subsection (c) or (c-1) is not subject to
appeal under this chapter, and the notice and hearing requirements
of this chapter do not apply to the action.
SECTION 3. Sections 21.12(a) and (b-1), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) An employee of a public or private primary or secondary
school commits an offense if the employee:
(1) engages in[:
[(1)] sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or deviate
sexual intercourse with a person who is enrolled in a public or
private primary or secondary school at which the employee works;
[or]
(2) holds a certificate or permit issued as provided
by Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, or is a person who is
required to be licensed by a state agency as provided by Section
21.003(b), Education Code, and engages in sexual contact, sexual
intercourse, or deviate sexual intercourse with a person the
employee knows is:
(A) enrolled in a public primary or secondary
school in the same school district as the school at which the
employee works; or
(B) a student participant in an educational
activity that is sponsored by a school district or a public or
private primary or secondary school, if:
(i) students enrolled in a public or
private primary or secondary school are the primary participants in
the activity; and
(ii) the employee provides education
services to those participants; or
(3) engages in conduct described by Section 33.021,
with a person described by Subdivision (1), or a person the employee
knows is a person described by Subdivision (2)(A) or (B),
regardless of the age of that person.
(b-1) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
section that:
(1) the actor was the spouse of the enrolled person at
the time of the offense; or
(2) the actor was not more than three years older than
the enrolled person and, at the time of the offense, the actor and
the enrolled person were in a relationship that began before the
actor's employment at a public or private primary or secondary
school.
SECTION 4. Section 21.006(b-1), Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies to an investigation of possible public school
educator misconduct begun on or after the effective date of this
Act, regardless of whether the alleged misconduct occurred before,
on, or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5.
The change in law made by this Act to Section
21.12, Penal Code, applies only to an offense committed on or after
the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was
committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of
the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012
school year.
SECTION 7. 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, 2011.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1610 was passed by the House on May 5,
2011, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 1, 3 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1610 on May 24, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 1,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1610 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 21, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 20, Nays
10.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor