Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1395 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R6938 YDB-F
2	2	By: Burkett H.B. No. 1395
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the protection of certain children through the
8	8	operation of the child safety check alert list.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 261.3022, Family Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 261.3022. CHILD SAFETY CHECK ALERT LIST. (a) Subject
13	13	to the availability of funds, the Department of Public Safety of the
14	14	State of Texas shall create a child safety check alert list as part
15	15	of the Texas Crime Information Center to help locate a child or the
16	16	child's family for purposes of:
17	17	(1) investigating a report of child abuse or neglect;
18	18	or
19	19	(2) ensuring the safety of a child who lives at home
20	20	and is receiving family-based safety services provided by the
21	21	department.
22	22	(b) If the child safety check alert list is established and
23	23	the department is unable to locate a child or the child's family for
24	24	a purpose stated in Subsection (a) [purposes of investigating a
25	25	report of child abuse or neglect], after the department has
26	26	exhausted all means available to the department for locating the
27	27	child or the child's family, the department may seek assistance
28	28	under this section from the appropriate [county attorney, district
29	29	attorney, or criminal district] attorney with responsibility for
30	30	representing the department as provided by Section 264.009.
31	31	(c) If the department requests assistance, the [county
32	32	attorney, district attorney, or criminal district] attorney with
33	33	responsibility for representing the department [, as applicable,]
34	34	may file an application with the court requesting the issuance of an
35	35	ex parte order requiring the Texas Crime Information Center to
36	36	place a child who is the subject of the report or is receiving
37	37	services under an active department case and the members of the
38	38	child's family whom the department is attempting to locate on a
39	39	child safety check alert list and, as applicable, ordering a law
40	40	enforcement officer to take temporary possession of the child. The
41	41	application must include a summary of:
42	42	(1) either:
43	43	(A) the report of child abuse or neglect the
44	44	department is attempting to investigate; or
45	45	(B) the circumstances that cause a child
46	46	described by Subsection (a)(2) to be at a substantial risk of harm
47	47	because the family cannot be located; and
48	48	(2) the department's efforts to locate the child or the
49	49	child's family.
50	50	(d) If the court determines after a hearing that the family
51	51	cannot be located to investigate a report of child abuse or neglect
52	52	or that a child is at risk of substantial harm because the family
53	53	cannot be located and that the department has exhausted all means
54	54	available to the department for locating the child or the child's
55	55	family, as applicable, the court shall approve the application and
56	56	order the appropriate law enforcement agency to notify the Texas
57	57	Crime Information Center to place the child or the child's family,
58	58	as applicable, on a child safety check alert list.
59	59	(e) If the court determines that allowing the child to
60	60	remain in the child's family's possession presents a substantial
61	61	risk of harm to the child, the court may order that the law
62	62	enforcement officer who locates the family shall take temporary
63	63	possession of the child and allow a department representative to
64	64	conduct an investigation or take any other action immediately
65	65	necessary to ensure the child's safety, including taking temporary
66	66	possession of the child.
67	67	(f) A law enforcement officer or department representative
68	68	who is in possession of a child under Subsection (e) is considered
69	69	to have taken possession of the child in an emergency under Section
70	70	262.104.
71	71	(g) The alert list must include:
72	72	(1) if applicable, the name of the family member
73	73	alleged to have abused or neglected a child according to the report
74	74	the department is attempting to investigate;
75	75	(2) the name of any parent, managing conservator, or
76	76	guardian of the child who cannot be located for the purposes
77	77	described by Subsection (a)(2);
78	78	(3) the name of the child who is the subject of the
79	79	report or is receiving services under an active department case;
80	80	(4) [(3)] a code identifying the type of child abuse
81	81	or neglect alleged or determined to have been committed against the
82	82	child or identifying the circumstances that cause the child to be at
83	83	a substantial risk of harm because the family cannot be located;
84	84	(5) [(4)] the family's last known address; and
85	85	(6) [(5)] the minimum criteria for an entry as
86	86	established by the center.
87	87	SECTION 2. Section 261.3023(a), Family Code, is amended to
88	88	read as follows:
89	89	(a) If a law enforcement officer encounters a person,
90	90	including a child, listed on the Texas Crime Information Center's
91	91	child safety check alert list [who is alleged to have abused or
92	92	neglected a child, or encounters a child listed on the alert list
93	93	who is the subject of a report of child abuse or neglect the
94	94	department is attempting to investigate], the officer shall:
95	95	(1) request information from the person or the child
96	96	regarding the child's well-being and current residence; and
97	97	(2) if the child is the subject of an order to take
98	98	temporary possession of the child under Section 261.3022(e), take
99	99	temporary possession of the child.
100	100	SECTION 3. Section 261.3024(a), Family Code, is amended to
101	101	read as follows:
102	102	(a) A law enforcement officer who locates a child listed on
103	103	the Texas Crime Information Center's child safety check alert list
104	104	[who is the subject of a report of child abuse or neglect the
105	105	department is attempting to investigate] and who takes temporary
106	106	possession of the child or reports the child's current address and
107	107	other relevant information to the department under Section 261.3023
108	108	shall report to the Texas Crime Information Center that the child
109	109	has been located.
110	110	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.