By: Whitmire, West S.B. No. 1114
(In the Senate - Filed March 5, 2013; March 12, 2013, read
first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
March 28, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; March 28, 2013,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1114 By: Whitmire
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of certain misdemeanor offenses
committed by children and to school district law enforcement.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 45.058, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsections (i) and (j) to read as follows:
(i) If a law enforcement officer issues a citation or files
a complaint in the manner provided by Article 45.018 for conduct by
a child 12 years of age or older that is alleged to have occurred on
school property or on a vehicle owned or operated by a county or
independent school district, the officer shall submit to the court
the offense report, a statement by a witness to the alleged conduct,
and a statement by a victim of the alleged conduct, if any. An
attorney representing the state may not proceed in a trial of an
offense unless the law enforcement officer complied with the
requirements of this subsection.
(j) Notwithstanding Subsection (g) or (g-1), a law
enforcement officer may not issue a citation or file a complaint in
the manner provided by Article 45.018 for conduct by a child younger
than 12 years of age that is alleged to have occurred on school
property or on a vehicle owned or operated by a county or
independent school district.
SECTION 2. Section 25.0915, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) A court shall dismiss a complaint or referral made by a
school district under this section that is not made in compliance
with Subsection (b).
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 37.001, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district
shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established
under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for
the district. The student code of conduct must be posted and
prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for
review at the office of the campus principal. In addition to
establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of
conduct must:
(1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
campus, [or] disciplinary alternative education program, or
vehicle owned or operated by the district;
(2) specify conditions that authorize or require a
principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
to a disciplinary alternative education program;
(3) outline conditions under which a student may be
suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
Section 37.007;
(4) specify that consideration will be given, as a
factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a
disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or
placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program,
regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or
discretionary action, to:
(A) self-defense;
(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the
student engaged in the conduct;
(C) a student's disciplinary history; or
(D) a disability that substantially impairs the
student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
conduct;
(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a
term of:
(A) a removal under Section 37.006; and
(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007;
(6) address the notification of a student's parent or
guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary
alternative education program, or expulsion;
(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit
lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
prohibitions; and
(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade
level, methods, including options, for:
(A) managing students in the classroom, [and] on
school grounds, and on a vehicle owned or operated by the district;
(B) disciplining students; and
(C) preventing and intervening in student
discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
hit lists.
SECTION 4. Subsections (b), (d), and (f), Section 37.081,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) In a peace officer's jurisdiction, a peace officer
commissioned under this section:
(1) has the powers, privileges, and immunities of
peace officers;
(2) may enforce all laws, including municipal
ordinances, county ordinances, and state laws; and
(3) may, in accordance with Chapter 52, Family Code,
or Article 45.058, Code of Criminal Procedure, take a child
[juvenile] into custody.
(d) A school district peace officer shall perform
[administrative and] law enforcement duties for the school district
as determined by the board of trustees of the school district.
Those duties must include protecting:
(1) the safety and welfare of any person in the
jurisdiction of the peace officer; and
(2) the property of the school district.
(f) The chief of police of the school district police
department shall be accountable to the superintendent and shall
report to the superintendent [or the superintendent's designee].
School district police officers shall be supervised by the chief of
police of the school district or the chief of police's designee and
shall be licensed by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
Standards and Education.
SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.085 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.085. ARRESTS PROHIBITED FOR CERTAIN CLASS C
MISDEMEANORS. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
warrant may not be issued for the arrest of a person for a Class C
misdemeanor under this code committed when the person was younger
than 17 years of age.
SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 37.124, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) A person other than a primary or secondary grade student
enrolled in the school commits an offense if the person, on school
property or on public property within 500 feet of school property,
alone or in concert with others, intentionally disrupts the conduct
of classes or other school activities.
SECTION 7. Subsection (a), Section 37.126, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 37.125, a person other
than a primary or secondary grade student commits an offense if the
person intentionally disrupts, prevents, or interferes with the
lawful transportation of children:
(1) to or from school on a vehicle owned or operated by
a county or independent school district; or
(2) to or from an activity sponsored by a school on a
vehicle owned or operated by a county or independent school
district.
SECTION 8. Section 52.031, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsections (d), (f), (i), and
(j) to read as follows:
(a-1) A child accused of a Class C misdemeanor, other than a
traffic offense, may be referred to a first offender program
established under this section prior to the filing of a complaint
with a criminal court.
(d) A law enforcement officer taking a child into custody
for conduct described by Subsection (a) or before issuing a
citation to a child for an offense described by Subsection (a-1) may
refer the child to the law enforcement officer or agency designated
under Subsection (b) for disposition under the first offender
program and not refer the child to juvenile court for the conduct or
file a complaint with a criminal court for the offense only if:
(1) the child has not previously been adjudicated as
having engaged in delinquent conduct;
(2) the referral complies with guidelines for
disposition under Subsection (c); and
(3) the officer reports in writing the referral to the
agency, identifying the child and specifying the grounds for taking
the child into custody or for accusing the child of an offense.
(f) The parent, guardian, or other custodian of the child
must receive notice that the child has been referred for
disposition under the first offender program. The notice must:
(1) state the grounds for taking the child into
custody for conduct described by Subsection (a), or for accusing
the child of an offense described by Subsection (a-1);
(2) identify the law enforcement officer or agency to
which the child was referred;
(3) briefly describe the nature of the program; and
(4) state that the child's failure to complete the
program will result in the child being referred to the juvenile
court for the conduct or a complaint being filed with a criminal
court for the offense.
(i) The case of a child who successfully completes the first
offender program is closed and may not be referred to juvenile court
or filed with a criminal court, unless the child is taken into
custody under circumstances described by Subsection (j)(3).
(j) The case of a child referred for disposition under the
first offender program shall be referred to juvenile court or, if
the child is accused of an offense described by Subsection (a-1),
filed with a criminal court if:
(1) the child fails to complete the program;
(2) the child or the parent, guardian, or other
custodian of the child terminates the child's participation in the
program before the child completes it; or
(3) the child completes the program but is taken into
custody under Section 52.01 before the 90th day after the date the
child completes the program for conduct other than the conduct for
which the child was referred to the first offender program.
SECTION 9. Section 42.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) For purposes of Subsection (a), the term "public
place" includes a public school campus or the school grounds on
which a public school is located.
SECTION 10. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, the changes in law made by this Act apply 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 covered
by the law in effect at the time the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For the
purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was
committed before that date.
(b) Section 37.085, Education Code, as added by this Act,
applies to an offense committed before, on, or after the effective
date of this Act.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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