Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1793 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	By: Frullo, Dale (Senate Sponsor - Hinojosa) H.B. No. 1793
2		-	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 20, 2015;
3		-	April 30, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
4		-	Criminal Justice; May 21, 2015, reported favorably by the
5		-	following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 21, 2015, sent to printer.)
6		-	Click here to see the committee vote
	1	+	H.B. No. 1793
7	2
8	3
9		-	COMMITTEE VOTE
10		-	YeaNayAbsentPNV
11		-	WhitmireX
12		-	HuffmanX
13		-	BurtonX
14		-	CreightonX
15		-	HinojosaX
16		-	MenéndezX
17		-	PerryX
18		-	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
19	4		AN ACT
20	5		relating to reports of certain missing children and to the
21	6		administration of missing or exploited children prevention grants.
22	7		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
23	8		SECTION 1. Article 63.009(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
24	9		is amended to read as follows:
25	10		(a) Local law enforcement agencies, on receiving a report of
26	11		a missing child or a missing person, shall:
27	12		(1) if the subject of the report is a child and the
28	13		[well-being of the] child is at a high risk of harm or is otherwise
29	14		in danger or if the subject of the report is a person who is known by
30	15		the agency to have or is reported to have chronic dementia,
31	16		including Alzheimer's dementia, whether caused by illness, brain
32	17		defect, or brain injury, immediately start an investigation in
33	18		order to determine the present location of the child or person;
34	19		(2) if the subject of the report is a child or person
35	20		other than a child or person described by Subdivision (1), start an
36	21		investigation with due diligence in order to determine the present
37	22		location of the child or person;
38	23		(3) immediately, but not later than two hours after
39	24		receiving the report, enter the name of the child or person into the
40	25		clearinghouse, the national crime information center missing
41	26		person file if the child or person meets the center's criteria, and
42	27		the Alzheimer's Association Safe Return crisis number, if
43	28		applicable, with all available identifying features such as dental
44	29		records, fingerprints, other physical characteristics, and a
45	30		description of the clothing worn when last seen, and all available
46	31		information describing any person reasonably believed to have taken
47	32		or retained the missing child or missing person; and
48	33		(4) inform the person who filed the report of the
49	34		missing child or missing person that the information will be
50	35		entered into the clearinghouse, the national crime information
51	36		center missing person file, and the Alzheimer's Association Safe
52	37		Return crisis number, if applicable.
53	38		SECTION 2. Article 63.0091, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
54	39		amended to read as follows:
55	40		Art. 63.0091. LAW ENFORCEMENT REQUIREMENTS REGARDING
56	41		REPORTS OF CERTAIN MISSING CHILDREN. (a) The public safety
57	42		director of the Department of Public Safety shall adopt rules
58	43		regarding the procedures for a local law enforcement agency on
59	44		receiving a report of a missing child who:
60	45		(1) had been reported missing on four or more
61	46		occasions in the 24-month period preceding the date of the current
62	47		report; [or]
63	48		(2) is in foster care or in the conservatorship of the
64	49		Department of Family and Protective Services and had been reported
65	50		missing on two or more occasions in the 24-month period preceding
66	51		the date of the current report; or
67	52		(3) is under 14 years of age and otherwise determined
68	53		by the local law enforcement agency or the Department of Public
69	54		Safety to be at a high risk of human trafficking, sexual assault,
70	55		exploitation, abuse, or neglectful supervision.
71	56		(b) The rules adopted under this article must require that
72	57		in entering information regarding the report into the national
73	58		crime information center missing person file as required by Article
74	59		63.009(a)(3) for a missing child described by Subsection (a), the
75	60		local law enforcement agency shall indicate, in the manner
76	61		specified in the rules, that the child is at a high risk of harm
77	62		[endangered] and include relevant information regarding any [the]
78	63		prior occasions on which the child was reported missing.
79	64		(c) If, at the time the initial entry into the national
80	65		crime information center missing person file is made, the local law
81	66		enforcement agency has not determined that the requirements of this
82	67		article apply to the report of the missing child, the information
83	68		required by Subsection (b) must be added to the entry promptly after
84	69		the agency investigating the report or the Department of Public
85	70		Safety determines that the missing child is described by Subsection
86	71		(a).
87	72		SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 63, Code of Criminal
88	73		Procedure, is amended by adding Article 63.0092 to read as follows:
89	74		Art. 63.0092. OPTION TO DESIGNATE MISSING CHILD AS HIGH
90	75		RISK. (a) This article applies to a report of a missing child who is
91	76		at least 14 years of age and who a local law enforcement agency or
92	77		the Department of Public Safety determines is at a high risk of
93	78		human trafficking, sexual assault, exploitation, abuse, or
94	79		neglectful supervision.
95	80		(b) In entering information regarding a report described by
96	81		Subsection (a) into the national crime information center missing
97	82		person file as required by Article 63.009(a)(3), the local law
98	83		enforcement agency may indicate that the child is at a high risk of
99	84		harm and may include any other relevant information.
100	85		SECTION 4. Section 411.0133, Government Code, is
101	86		transferred to Chapter 772, Government Code, redesignated as
102	87		Section 772.0072, Government Code, and amended to read as follows:
103	88		Sec. 772.0072 [411.0133]. MISSING OR EXPLOITED CHILDREN
104	89		PREVENTION GRANTS. (a) In this section, "nonprofit organization"
105	90		means an organization exempt from federal income taxation under
106	91		Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as an organization
107	92		described by Section 501(c)(3) of that code [has the meaning
108	93		assigned by Section 403.351].
109	94		(b) This section applies to a nonprofit organization that is
110	95		formed to offer programs and provide information to parents or
111	96		other legal custodians, children, schools, public officials,
112	97		organizations serving youths, nonprofit organizations, and the
113	98		general public concerning child safety and Internet safety and the
114	99		prevention of child abductions and child sexual exploitation.
115	100		(c) The criminal justice division established under Section
116	101		772.006 [department] may award a grant to a nonprofit organization
117	102		described by Subsection (b) that is operating in this state to
118	103		provide programs and information described by that subsection to
119	104		assist the Department of Public Safety [department] in the
120	105		performance of its [the department's] duties related to missing or
121	106		exploited children, including any duty related to the missing
122	107		children and missing persons information clearinghouse under
123	108		Chapter 63, Code of Criminal Procedure.
124	109		[(d) The department may adopt rules to implement this
125	110		section.]
126	111		SECTION 5. Articles 63.009(a) and 63.0091, Code of Criminal
127	112		Procedure, as amended by this Act, and Article 63.0092, Code of
128	113		Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, apply only to a missing
129	114		child report that is received by a law enforcement agency on or
130	115		after the effective date of this Act. A report that is received
131	116		before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
132	117		effect on the date the report was received, and the former law is
133	118		continued in effect for that purpose.
134	119		SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
135		-	* * * * *
	120	+	______________________________ ______________________________
	121	+	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
	122	+	I certify that H.B. No. 1793 was passed by the House on April
	123	+	16, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 146, Nays 0, 2 present, not
	124	+	voting.
	125	+	______________________________
	126	+	Chief Clerk of the House
	127	+	I certify that H.B. No. 1793 was passed by the Senate on May
	128	+	26, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	129	+	______________________________
	130	+	Secretary of the Senate
	131	+	APPROVED: _____________________
	132	+	Date
	133	+	_____________________
	134	+	Governor