By: Thompson, et al. H.B. No. 3001
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the monitoring of and provision of certain information
regarding certain high-risk sex offenders; providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 42.0155 to read as follows:
Art. 42.0155. FINDING REGARDING HIGH-RISK SEX OFFENDER.
(a) This article applies only to an offense under:
(1) Section 21.02, 21.11(a)(1), 22.011, or 22.021,
Penal Code;
(2) Section 43.25, Penal Code;
(3) Section 20.04(a)(4), Penal Code, if the conduct is
committed with the intent to violate or abuse the victim of the
conduct sexually; or
(4) Section 30.02, Penal Code, if the conduct is
punishable under Subsection (d) of that section and is committed
with the intent to commit an offense listed in Subdivision (1) or
(2).
(b) In the trial of an offense to which this article
applies, the court shall make an affirmative finding of fact and
enter the affirmative finding in the judgment in the case if the
court determines by a preponderance of the evidence that the
defendant is highly likely to commit a subsequent offense to which
this article applies during a time at which the defendant is not
confined in a penal institution.
SECTION 2. Title 1, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
by adding Chapter 61A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 61A. ELECTRONIC MONITORING OF
CERTAIN HIGH-RISK SEX OFFENDERS
Art. 61A.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Department" means the Department of Public
Safety.
(2) "Local law enforcement authority" has the meaning
assigned by Article 62.001.
(3) "Monitoring system" means an electronic
monitoring service, global positioning satellite service, or other
appropriate technological service that is designed to track a
person's location.
(4) "Penal institution" means a confinement facility
operated by or under contract with any division of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice.
Art. 61A.02. MONITORING OF CERTAIN HIGH-RISK SEX OFFENDERS.
(a) This article applies only to a person who is discharged from a
penal institution, who has been convicted of an offense for which
the judgment in the case contains an affirmative finding under
Article 42.0155, and who:
(1) is not under the supervision of the parole
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; or
(2) has not been civilly committed under Chapter 841,
Health and Safety Code.
(b) A person described by Subsection (a) shall participate
in any monitoring system program implemented under Subsection (c).
(c) The department shall implement and coordinate a
monitoring system program that tracks the location of persons
subject to this chapter. A monitoring system program implemented
under this subsection must require:
(1) for each person subject to this chapter, the
department to provide monitoring system equipment, sufficient to
track the person's location, to the local law enforcement authority
designated as the person's primary registration authority under
Chapter 62;
(2) the local law enforcement authority designated as
a person's primary registration authority under Chapter 62 to use
the monitoring system equipment provided under Subdivision (1) to
verify the authenticity of any geographically verifiable
information, including residence, contained in a sex offender
registration form submitted by the person to that authority under
Article 62.051; and
(3) the manufacturer or vendor of the monitoring
system equipment provided to a local law enforcement authority
under Subdivision (1) to provide training and technological support
to the authority with respect to the equipment.
(d) A monitoring system that is part of a monitoring system
program described by Subsection (c) must track a person's location
and periodically provide a cumulative report of the tracked
person's location to the department. The monitoring system is not
required to be capable of tracking a person's location in real time
or providing a real-time report of the person's location to the
department.
(e) A person who is not indigent and who is required to
participate in a monitoring system program described by Subsection
(c) is responsible for the cost of the monitoring system and monthly
shall pay to the person's primary registration authority and to the
department the amount that the primary registration authority or
department, as applicable, determines is necessary to defray that
entity's cost of operating the system with respect to the person
during the preceding month.
(f) The public safety director of the department shall adopt
rules as necessary to implement and coordinate the monitoring
system program described by Subsection (c).
Art. 61A.03. EXEMPTION FROM MONITORING FOR CERTAIN SEX
OFFENDERS. (a) Beginning on the 10th anniversary of the person's
discharge from a penal institution, completion of a parole period,
or participation in an early release from supervision program under
Section 508.155(c), Government Code, whichever is latest, but not
more than once during each calendar year, a person required to
register under this chapter may petition the court having
jurisdiction over the case for an order exempting the person from
participating in a monitoring system program under this chapter.
(b) After a hearing on the petition described by Subsection
(a), the court may issue an order exempting the person from
participating in a monitoring system program under this chapter if
the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that an exemption
would not constitute a threat to public safety.
(c) An order exempting the person from participating in a
monitoring system program under this chapter does not expire,
except that the court may withdraw the order if after the order is
issued:
(1) the person is convicted of an offense listed in
Article 62.001; or
(2) at a hearing, the court finds by a preponderance of
the evidence that the continuation of an exemption order issued
under Subsection (b) would constitute a threat to public safety.
Art. 61A.04. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH MONITORING
REQUIREMENTS. (a) A person commits an offense if the person is
subject to this chapter and fails to participate in a monitoring
system program implemented under this chapter.
(b) An offense under this article is a felony of the third
degree.
Art. 61A.05. FUNDING. The department may solicit and
accept a gift, grant, or donation or other money from any source,
including the legislature or a foundation, private entity,
governmental entity, or institution of higher education, to help
fund the implementation of a monitoring system program under this
chapter.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 62.0052 to read as follows:
Art. 62.0052. ELECTRONIC MAIL REPORTS FOR STATE
LEGISLATORS. (a) The department shall maintain an electronic mail
report service to which a member of the house of representatives or
the senate of this state may electronically subscribe.
(b) The electronic mail report service maintained under
Subsection (a) must:
(1) allow a subscribing representative or senator to
request for each zip code any portion of which is located in the
representative's or senator's district notification of:
(A) the release from a penal institution or
placement on deferred adjudication community supervision,
community supervision, or juvenile probation of a person who
expects to reside or resides in that zip code and is required to
register under this chapter; and
(B) any change in address of a person who expects
to reside or resides in that zip code and is required to register
under this chapter; and
(2) not less frequently than monthly, deliver to the
subscribing representative or senator a report containing the
information described by Subdivision (1).
(c) The department must include any public information
described by Article 62.005 in an electronic mail report sent to a
subscribing representative or senator.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 62.0531 to read as follows:
Art. 62.0531. DETERMINATION OF PREDATORY RISK LEVEL. (a)
In this article, "sexually predatory conduct" means conduct that is
engaged in for the purpose of victimization and that:
(1) is directed toward a stranger, a person of casual
acquaintance with whom no substantial relationship exists, or a
person with whom a relationship has been established or promoted
for the purpose of victimization; and
(2) violates:
(A) Section 21.11(a)(1), 22.011, or 22.021,
Penal Code;
(B) Section 43.25, Penal Code;
(C) Section 20.04(a)(4), Penal Code, if the
conduct is committed with the intent to violate or abuse the victim
of the conduct sexually; or
(D) Section 30.02, Penal Code, if the conduct is
punishable under Subsection (d) of that section and is committed
with the intent to engage in conduct described by Paragraph (A) or
(C).
(b) In addition to assigning to a person a numeric risk
level of one, two, or three under Article 62.053(a), before a person
who will be subject to registration under this chapter and who will
be described by Article 62.063(b) on or after release is due to be
released from a penal institution, the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice or the Texas Youth Commission, as applicable, using the
dynamic risk assessment tool developed or adopted by the Council on
Sex Offender Treatment under Section 110.164, Occupations Code,
shall:
(1) determine the likelihood that the person will
engage in sexually predatory conduct after being released from the
institution; and
(2) assign to the person a predatory risk level of low,
medium, or high.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 62.063 to read as follows:
Art. 62.063. MONITORING OF CERTAIN HIGH-RISK REGISTRANTS.
(a) In this article, "monitoring system" means an electronic
monitoring service, global positioning satellite service, or other
appropriate technological service that is designed to track a
person's location.
(b) This article applies only to a person 18 years of age or
older who is released from a penal institution, who is required to
register under this chapter as the result of a reportable
conviction or adjudication, and who:
(1) is not otherwise subject to monitoring under
Chapter 61A;
(2) is not under the supervision and control of:
(A) the Texas Youth Commission;
(B) a community supervision and corrections
department; or
(C) the parole division of the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice; or
(3) has not been civilly committed under Chapter 841,
Health and Safety Code.
(c) A person described by Subsection (b) who, under Article
62.0531, is assigned a predatory risk level of high shall
participate in any monitoring system program implemented under
Subsection (d). A person's duty to participate in the program
expires on the third anniversary of the date the person is released
from the penal institution.
(d) Subject to the receipt of one or more grants awarded by
the criminal justice division of the governor's office, the
department shall implement and coordinate a monitoring system
program that tracks the location of persons subject to this
article. A monitoring system program implemented under this
subsection must require:
(1) the department to provide to each local law
enforcement authority designated as the primary registration
authority under this chapter for a person subject to this article
monitoring system equipment that is sufficient to track the
location of the person;
(2) each local law enforcement authority designated as
a person's primary registration authority under this chapter to use
the monitoring system equipment provided under Subdivision (1) to
verify the authenticity of any geographically verifiable
information contained in the registration form of a person subject
to this article, including the person's residence; and
(3) the manufacturer or vendor of the monitoring
system equipment provided to a local law enforcement authority
under Subdivision (1) to provide training and technological support
to the authority with respect to the equipment.
(e) A monitoring system that is part of a monitoring system
program described by Subsection (d) must track a person's location
and periodically provide a cumulative report of the tracked
person's location to the department. The monitoring system is not
required to be capable of tracking a person's location in real time
or providing a real-time report of the person's location to the
department.
(f) A person who is not indigent and who is required to
participate in a monitoring system program described by Subsection
(d) is responsible for the cost of the monitoring system and monthly
shall pay to the person's primary registration authority and to the
department the amount that the primary registration authority or
department, as applicable, determines is necessary to defray that
entity's cost of operating the system with respect to the person
during the preceding month.
(g) In the manner prescribed by the criminal justice
division of the governor's office, the department shall report to
the division the amounts of any money received by the department
under Subsection (f). The division shall treat that money as
program income for the department and shall use the reported
amounts to offset the amounts of grants awarded by the division to
the department.
(h) The public safety director of the department shall adopt
rules as necessary to implement and coordinate the monitoring
system program described by Subsection (d).
(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article,
this article does not apply to a person who is released from a penal
institution before the date that the monitoring system program is
implemented and becomes fully operational.
SECTION 6. Section 110.164(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The council shall develop or adopt a dynamic risk
assessment tool to be used in determining the likelihood that a
person who is confined in a penal institution and will become
subject to Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, on being
released from the institution will:
(1) engage in sexually predatory conduct; or
(2) otherwise commit an offense described by Article
62.001(5), Code of Criminal Procedure[, after being released from
the institution].
SECTION 7. The Department of Public Safety shall ensure
that the electronic mail report service required to be maintained
under Article 62.0052, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this
Act, becomes fully functional and able to receive subscription
requests and shall begin to respond appropriately to those requests
not later than January 1, 2012.
SECTION 8. (a) Not later than September 15, 2011, the
Department of Public Safety shall issue a request for
qualifications or proposal for the purchase of any monitoring
system equipment necessary to operate the monitoring system program
described by Article 62.063, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added
by this Act, and to operate the monitoring system program described
by Chapter 61A, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act.
The department may consider only those responses to the request for
qualifications or proposal that are received from, and may only
contract with, a manufacturer of the monitoring system equipment.
(b) The selection process through which the Department of
Public Safety chooses a manufacturer with which to contract under
Subsection (a) of this section must include side-by-side test
comparisons of all products being considered. In awarding a
contract under Subsection (a) of this section, the department may
not give greater weight to cost considerations than to
considerations concerning the product test results, product
reliability and functionality, and the protection of public safety.
(c) Subject to the receipt of one or more grants awarded by
the criminal justice division of the governor's office, the
Department of Public Safety shall ensure that the monitoring system
program required under Article 62.063, Code of Criminal Procedure,
as added by this Act, becomes fully operational not later than
February 29, 2012.
SECTION 9. (a) Article 42.0155, Code of Criminal
Procedure, as added by this Act, applies only to a judgment of
conviction entered for an offense committed on or after the
effective date of this Act.
(b) The change in law made by this Act in adding Chapter 61A,
Code of Criminal Procedure, applies only to an offense committed on
or after the effective date of this Act.
(c) An offense committed before the effective date of this
Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For the
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was
committed before that date.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.