Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB2496 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Gonzalez, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Carona) H.B. No. 2496
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 16, 2011;
3	3	May 16, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
4	4	Justice; May 21, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote:
5	5	Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 21, 2011, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to creating a teen dating violence court program and the
11	11	deferral of adjudication and dismissal of certain dating violence
12	12	cases.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Chapter 54, Family Code, is amended by adding
15	15	Section 54.0325 to read as follows:
16	16	Sec. 54.0325. DEFERRAL OF ADJUDICATION AND DISMISSAL OF
17	17	CERTAIN CASES ON COMPLETION OF TEEN DATING VIOLENCE COURT PROGRAM.
18	18	(a) In this section:
19	19	(1) "Dating violence" has the meaning assigned by
20	20	Section 71.0021.
21	21	(2) "Family violence" has the meaning assigned by
22	22	Section 71.004.
23	23	(3) "Teen dating violence court program" means a
24	24	program that includes:
25	25	(A) a 12-week program designed to educate
26	26	children who engage in dating violence and encourage them to
27	27	refrain from engaging in that conduct;
28	28	(B) a dedicated teen victim advocate who assists
29	29	teen victims by offering referrals to additional services,
30	30	providing counseling and safety planning, and explaining the
31	31	juvenile justice system;
32	32	(C) a court-employed resource coordinator to
33	33	monitor children's compliance with the 12-week program;
34	34	(D) one judge who presides over all of the cases
35	35	in the jurisdiction that qualify for the program; and
36	36	(E) an attorney in the district attorney's office
37	37	or the county attorney's office who is assigned to the program.
38	38	(b) On the recommendation of the prosecuting attorney, the
39	39	juvenile court may defer adjudication proceedings under Section
40	40	54.03 for not more than 180 days if the child is a first offender who
41	41	is alleged to have engaged in conduct:
42	42	(1) that violated a penal law of this state of the
43	43	grade of misdemeanor; and
44	44	(2) involving dating violence.
45	45	(c) For the purposes of Subsection (b), a first offender is
46	46	a child who has not previously been referred to juvenile court for
47	47	allegedly engaging in conduct constituting dating violence, family
48	48	violence, or an assault.
49	49	(d) Before implementation, the teen dating violence court
50	50	program must be approved by:
51	51	(1) the court; and
52	52	(2) the commissioners court of the county.
53	53	(e) A child for whom adjudication proceedings are deferred
54	54	under Subsection (b) shall:
55	55	(1) complete the teen dating violence court program
56	56	not later than the last day of the deferral period; and
57	57	(2) appear in court once a month for monitoring
58	58	purposes.
59	59	(f) The court shall dismiss the case with prejudice at the
60	60	time the child presents satisfactory evidence that the child has
61	61	successfully completed the teen dating violence court program.
62	62	(g) The court may require a child who participates in a teen
63	63	dating violence court program to pay a fee not to exceed $10 that is
64	64	set by the court to cover the costs of administering this section.
65	65	The court shall deposit the fee in the county treasury of the county
66	66	in which the court is located.
67	67	(h) In addition to the fee authorized by Subsection (g), the
68	68	court may require a child who participates in a teen dating violence
69	69	court program to pay a fee of $10 to cover the cost to the teen
70	70	dating violence court program for performing its duties under this
71	71	section. The court shall pay the fee to the teen dating violence
72	72	court program, and the teen dating violence court program must
73	73	account to the court for the receipt and disbursal of the fee.
74	74	(i) The court shall track the number of children ordered to
75	75	participate in the teen dating violence court program, the
76	76	percentage of victims meeting with the teen victim advocate, and
77	77	the compliance rate of the children ordered to participate in the
78	78	program.
79	79	SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 103, Government Code, is
80	80	amended by adding Section 103.0210 to read as follows:
81	81	Sec. 103.0210. ADDITIONAL FEES IN CERTAIN JUVENILE CASES:
82	82	FAMILY CODE. A child for whom adjudication proceedings are
83	83	deferred under Section 54.0325, Family Code, shall pay a fee not to
84	84	exceed $20 to the court for the administration of the teen dating
85	85	violence court program.
86	86	SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
87	87	to conduct violating a penal law that occurs on or after the
88	88	effective date of this Act. Conduct violating a penal law that
89	89	occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
90	90	in effect on the date the conduct occurred, and the former law is
91	91	continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section,
92	92	conduct violating a penal law occurred before the effective date of
93	93	this Act if any element of the violation occurred before that date.
94	94	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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