By: Frullo, Dale (Senate Sponsor - Hinojosa) H.B. No. 1793
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 20, 2015;
April 30, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
Criminal Justice; May 21, 2015, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 21, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE VOTE
YeaNayAbsentPNV
WhitmireX
HuffmanX
BurtonX
CreightonX
HinojosaX
MenéndezX
PerryX
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to reports of certain missing children and to the
administration of missing or exploited children prevention grants.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 63.009(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Local law enforcement agencies, on receiving a report of
a missing child or a missing person, shall:
(1) if the subject of the report is a child and the
[well-being of the] child is at a high risk of harm or is otherwise
in danger or if the subject of the report is a person who is known by
the agency to have or is reported to have chronic dementia,
including Alzheimer's dementia, whether caused by illness, brain
defect, or brain injury, immediately start an investigation in
order to determine the present location of the child or person;
(2) if the subject of the report is a child or person
other than a child or person described by Subdivision (1), start an
investigation with due diligence in order to determine the present
location of the child or person;
(3) immediately, but not later than two hours after
receiving the report, enter the name of the child or person into the
clearinghouse, the national crime information center missing
person file if the child or person meets the center's criteria, and
the Alzheimer's Association Safe Return crisis number, if
applicable, with all available identifying features such as dental
records, fingerprints, other physical characteristics, and a
description of the clothing worn when last seen, and all available
information describing any person reasonably believed to have taken
or retained the missing child or missing person; and
(4) inform the person who filed the report of the
missing child or missing person that the information will be
entered into the clearinghouse, the national crime information
center missing person file, and the Alzheimer's Association Safe
Return crisis number, if applicable.
SECTION 2. Article 63.0091, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 63.0091. LAW ENFORCEMENT REQUIREMENTS REGARDING
REPORTS OF CERTAIN MISSING CHILDREN. (a) The public safety
director of the Department of Public Safety shall adopt rules
regarding the procedures for a local law enforcement agency on
receiving a report of a missing child who:
(1) had been reported missing on four or more
occasions in the 24-month period preceding the date of the current
report; [or]
(2) is in foster care or in the conservatorship of the
Department of Family and Protective Services and had been reported
missing on two or more occasions in the 24-month period preceding
the date of the current report; or
(3) is under 14 years of age and otherwise determined
by the local law enforcement agency or the Department of Public
Safety to be at a high risk of human trafficking, sexual assault,
exploitation, abuse, or neglectful supervision.
(b) The rules adopted under this article must require that
in entering information regarding the report into the national
crime information center missing person file as required by Article
63.009(a)(3) for a missing child described by Subsection (a), the
local law enforcement agency shall indicate, in the manner
specified in the rules, that the child is at a high risk of harm
[endangered] and include relevant information regarding any [the]
prior occasions on which the child was reported missing.
(c) If, at the time the initial entry into the national
crime information center missing person file is made, the local law
enforcement agency has not determined that the requirements of this
article apply to the report of the missing child, the information
required by Subsection (b) must be added to the entry promptly after
the agency investigating the report or the Department of Public
Safety determines that the missing child is described by Subsection
(a).
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 63, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 63.0092 to read as follows:
Art. 63.0092. OPTION TO DESIGNATE MISSING CHILD AS HIGH
RISK. (a) This article applies to a report of a missing child who is
at least 14 years of age and who a local law enforcement agency or
the Department of Public Safety determines is at a high risk of
human trafficking, sexual assault, exploitation, abuse, or
neglectful supervision.
(b) In entering information regarding a report described by
Subsection (a) into the national crime information center missing
person file as required by Article 63.009(a)(3), the local law
enforcement agency may indicate that the child is at a high risk of
harm and may include any other relevant information.
SECTION 4. Section 411.0133, Government Code, is
transferred to Chapter 772, Government Code, redesignated as
Section 772.0072, Government Code, and amended to read as follows:
Sec. 772.0072 [411.0133]. MISSING OR EXPLOITED CHILDREN
PREVENTION GRANTS. (a) In this section, "nonprofit organization"
means an organization exempt from federal income taxation under
Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as an organization
described by Section 501(c)(3) of that code [has the meaning
assigned by Section 403.351].
(b) This section applies to a nonprofit organization that is
formed to offer programs and provide information to parents or
other legal custodians, children, schools, public officials,
organizations serving youths, nonprofit organizations, and the
general public concerning child safety and Internet safety and the
prevention of child abductions and child sexual exploitation.
(c) The criminal justice division established under Section
772.006 [department] may award a grant to a nonprofit organization
described by Subsection (b) that is operating in this state to
provide programs and information described by that subsection to
assist the Department of Public Safety [department] in the
performance of its [the department's] duties related to missing or
exploited children, including any duty related to the missing
children and missing persons information clearinghouse under
Chapter 63, Code of Criminal Procedure.
[(d) The department may adopt rules to implement this
section.]
SECTION 5. Articles 63.009(a) and 63.0091, Code of Criminal
Procedure, as amended by this Act, and Article 63.0092, Code of
Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, apply only to a missing
child report that is received by a law enforcement agency on or
after the effective date of this Act. A report that is received
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the report was received, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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