H.B. No. 2053
AN ACT
relating to the protection of certain children who may be subject to
child abuse or neglect through the operation of the child safety
check alert list and training for law enforcement officers relating
to the child safety check alert list.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 261.301, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
(i) If at any time during an investigation of a report of
child abuse or neglect to which the department has assigned the
highest priority the department is unable to locate the child who is
the subject of the report of abuse or neglect or the child's family,
the department shall notify the Department of Public Safety that
the location of the child and the child's family is unknown. If the
Department of Public Safety locates the child and the child's
family, the Department of Public Safety shall notify the department
of the location of the child and the child's family.
SECTION 2. Section 261.3022, Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 261.3022. CHILD SAFETY CHECK ALERT LIST. (a) The
[Subject to the availability of funds, the] Department of Public
Safety of the State of Texas shall maintain [create] a child safety
check alert list as part of the Texas Crime Information Center to
help locate a child or the child's family for purposes of:
(1) investigating a report of child abuse or neglect;
(2) providing protective services to a family
receiving family-based support services; or
(3) providing protective services to the family of a
child in the managing conservatorship of the department.
(b) If [the child safety check alert list is established
and] the department is unable to locate a child or the child's
family for a purpose described by Subsection (a) after the
department has attempted to locate the child for not more than 20
days, the department shall notify the Texas Department of Public
Safety that the department is unable to locate the child or the
child's family. The notice must include the information required
by Subsections (c)(1)-(10).
(c) On receipt of the notice from the department, the Texas
Department of Public Safety shall [purposes of investigating a
report of child abuse or neglect, after the department has
exhausted all means available to the department for locating the
family, the department may seek assistance under this section from
the appropriate county attorney, district attorney, or criminal
district attorney with responsibility for representing the
department as provided by Section 264.009.
[(c) If the department requests assistance, the county
attorney, district attorney, or criminal district attorney, as
applicable, may file an application with the court requesting the
issuance of an ex parte order requiring the Texas Crime Information
Center to place the members of the family the department is
attempting to locate on a child safety check alert list. The
application must include a summary of:
[(1) the report of child abuse or neglect the
department is attempting to investigate; and
[(2) the department's efforts to locate the family.
[(d) If the court determines after a hearing that the
department has exhausted all means available to the department for
locating the family, the court shall approve the application and
order the appropriate law enforcement agency to] notify the Texas
Crime Information Center to place the child and the child's family
on a child safety check alert list. The alert list must include the
following information if known or readily available:
(1) the name, sex, race, date of birth, any known
identifying numbers, including social security number and driver's
license number, and personal descriptions of the family member
alleged to have abused or neglected a child according to the report
the department is attempting to investigate;
(2) the name, sex, race, date of birth, any known
identifying numbers, including social security number and driver's
license number, and personal descriptions of any parent, managing
conservator, or guardian of the child who cannot be located for the
purposes described by Subsection (a);
(3) the name, sex, race, date of birth, any known
identifying numbers, including social security number and driver's
license number, and personal descriptions of the child who is the
subject of the report or is receiving services described by
Subsection (a)(2) or (3);
(4) if applicable, [(3)] a code identifying the type
of child abuse or neglect alleged or determined to have been
committed against the child;
(5) [(4)] the family's last known address; [and]
(6) any known description of the motor vehicle,
including the vehicle's make, color, style of body, model year, and
vehicle identification number, in which the child is suspected to
be transported;
(7) the case number assigned by the department;
(8) the department's dedicated law-enforcement
telephone number for statewide intake;
(9) the date and time when and the location where the
child was last seen; and
(10) any other information required [(5) the minimum
criteria] for an entry as established by the center.
SECTION 3. Section 261.3023, Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 261.3023. LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE TO CHILD SAFETY
CHECK ALERT. [(a)] If a law enforcement officer encounters a child
or other person listed on the Texas Crime Information Center's
child safety check alert list, the law enforcement officer shall
follow the procedures described by Article 2.272, Code of Criminal
Procedure [who is alleged to have abused or neglected a child, or
encounters a child listed on the alert list who is the subject of a
report of child abuse or neglect the department is attempting to
investigate, the officer shall request information from the person
or the child regarding the child's well-being and current
residence.
[(b) If the law enforcement officer determines that the
circumstances described by Section 262.104 exist, the officer may
take possession of the child without a court order as authorized by
that section if the officer is able to locate the child. If the
circumstances described by Section 262.104 do not exist, the
officer shall obtain the child's current address and any other
relevant information and report that information to the
department].
SECTION 4. Section 261.3024, Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 261.3024. REMOVAL FROM CHILD SAFETY CHECK ALERT LIST.
(a) A law enforcement officer who locates a child listed on the
Texas Crime Information Center's child safety check alert list [who
is the subject of a report of child abuse or neglect the department
is attempting to investigate and who reports the child's current
address and other relevant information to the department under
Section 261.3023] shall report [to the Texas Crime Information
Center] that the child has been located in the manner prescribed by
Article 2.272, Code of Criminal Procedure.
(b) If the department locates a child who has been placed on
the child safety check alert list established under Section
261.3022 [described by Subsection (a)] through a means other than
information reported to the department by a law enforcement officer
under Article 2.272, Code of Criminal Procedure [Subsection (a)],
the department shall report to the Texas Crime Information Center
that the child has been located.
(c) On receipt of notice [under this section] that a child
has been located, the Texas Crime Information Center shall remove
the child and the child's family from the child safety check alert
list.
SECTION 5. Subchapter D, Chapter 261, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 261.3025 to read as follows:
Sec. 261.3025. CHILD SAFETY CHECK ALERT LIST PROGRESS
REPORT. (a) Not later than February 1 of each year, the Department
of Public Safety, with the assistance of the department, shall
prepare and submit a report on the use of the Texas Crime
Information Center's child safety check alert list to the standing
committees of the senate and the house of representatives with
primary jurisdiction over child protective services.
(b) The report must include the following information for
the preceding calendar year:
(1) the number of law enforcement officers who
completed the training program established under Section 1701.262,
Occupations Code;
(2) the number of children who have been placed on the
child safety check alert list and the number of those children who
have been located; and
(3) the number of families who have been placed on the
child safety check alert list and the number of those families who
have been located.
(c) This section expires February 2, 2021.
SECTION 6. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 2.272 to read as follows:
Art. 2.272. LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE TO CHILD SAFETY CHECK
ALERT. (a) If a peace officer locates a child or other person
listed on the Texas Crime Information Center's child safety check
alert list established under Section 261.3022, Family Code, the
officer shall:
(1) immediately contact the Department of Family and
Protective Services on the department's dedicated law-enforcement
telephone number for statewide intake;
(2) request information from the department regarding
the circumstances of the case involving the child or other person;
and
(3) request information from the child and the other
person regarding the child's safety, well-being, and current
residence.
(b) The peace officer may temporarily detain the child or
other person to ensure the safety and well-being of the child.
(c) If the peace officer determines that the circumstances
described by Section 262.104, Family Code, exist, the officer may
take temporary possession of the child without a court order as
provided by Section 262.104, Family Code. If the peace officer does
not take temporary possession of the child, the officer shall
obtain the child's current address and any other relevant
information and report that information to the Department of Family
and Protective Services.
(d) A peace officer who locates a child or other person
listed on the Texas Crime Information Center's child safety check
alert list and who reports the child's or other person's current
address and other relevant information to the Department of Family
and Protective Services shall report to the Texas Crime Information
Center that the child or other person has been located and to whom
the child was released, as applicable.
SECTION 7. Subchapter F, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 1701.262 to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.262. TRAINING PROGRAM RELATING TO CHILD SAFETY
CHECK ALERT LIST. (a) The commission by rule shall establish an
education and training program on the Texas Crime Information
Center's child safety check alert list. The program must include
instruction relating to:
(1) the procedures for placing a child or other person
on the child safety check alert list;
(2) the manner in which an officer should interact
with a child or other person on the child safety check alert list
whom the officer locates; and
(3) the procedures for removing a child or other
person from the child safety check alert list.
(b) The commission shall make the training program
available to employees in the child protective services division of
the Department of Family and Protective Services, including
caseworkers, supervisors, and special investigators.
SECTION 8. Section 1701.402, Occupations Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (m) to read as follows:
(m) As a requirement for an intermediate or advanced
proficiency certificate issued by the commission on or after
January 1, 2016, an officer must complete an education and training
program on the Texas Crime Information Center's child safety check
alert list established by the commission under Section 1701.262.
SECTION 9. (a) Except as provided by this section, this Act
takes effect September 1, 2015.
(b) Section 261.3025, Family Code, as added by this Act,
takes effect March 1, 2016.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2053 was passed by the House on April
28, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 3 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2053 on May 27, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 136, Nays 2,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2053 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor