Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB69 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R1314 ADM-F
2	2	By: McClendon H.B. No. 69
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the creation of the Juvenile Court Jurisdiction Task
8	8	Force.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. JUVENILE COURT JURISDICTION TASK FORCE. (a) In
11	11	this Act:
12	12	(1) "Juvenile" means a person subject to the
13	13	jurisdiction of a juvenile court for acts committed when the person
14	14	was a child.
15	15	(2) "Task force" means the Juvenile Court Jurisdiction
16	16	Task Force established under this section.
17	17	(b) The Juvenile Court Jurisdiction Task Force is
18	18	established. The purpose of the task force is to:
19	19	(1) evaluate a proposal to define a person who is 17
20	20	years of age and commits an offense as a child under the Family Code
21	21	to include the person under the jurisdiction of a juvenile court;
22	22	and
23	23	(2) if the task force determines the legislature
24	24	should implement the proposal, develop an implementation plan that
25	25	includes legislative, administrative, and funding changes
26	26	necessary to implement the proposal.
27	27	(c) The task force is composed of the following 25 members:
28	28	(1) the chief justice of the supreme court or the chief
29	29	justice's designee;
30	30	(2) the presiding judge of the court of criminal
31	31	appeals or the presiding judge's designee;
32	32	(3) the executive director of the Texas Department of
33	33	Criminal Justice or the executive director's designee;
34	34	(4) the executive director of the Texas Juvenile
35	35	Justice Department or the executive director's designee;
36	36	(5) the executive director of the Commission on Jail
37	37	Standards or the executive director's designee;
38	38	(6) the public safety director of the Department of
39	39	Public Safety or the director's designee;
40	40	(7) the independent ombudsman of the Texas Juvenile
41	41	Justice Department or the independent ombudsman's designee;
42	42	(8) one representative of the Legislative Budget Board
43	43	with expertise in criminal justice population projections and
44	44	budget issues, appointed by the director of the Legislative Budget
45	45	Board;
46	46	(9) one prosecutor with expertise in prosecuting
47	47	juvenile offenders, appointed by the governor;
48	48	(10) one criminal defense lawyer, appointed by the
49	49	governor;
50	50	(11) one current or former juvenile court judge,
51	51	appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court;
52	52	(12) one current or former criminal court judge
53	53	appointed by the presiding judge of the court of criminal appeals;
54	54	(13) one school administrator, appointed by the
55	55	governor;
56	56	(14) one chief juvenile probation officer from an
57	57	urban county and one chief juvenile probation officer from a rural
58	58	county, appointed by the governor;
59	59	(15) one chief adult probation officer, appointed by
60	60	the governor;
61	61	(16) one police chief, appointed by the governor;
62	62	(17) one person with expertise in brain development or
63	63	adolescent mental health, appointed by the governor;
64	64	(18) one person who was adjudicated for a juvenile
65	65	offense in Texas, appointed by the governor;
66	66	(19) three members of the house of representatives,
67	67	appointed by the speaker of the house; and
68	68	(20) three members of the senate, appointed by the
69	69	lieutenant governor.
70	70	(d) The governor shall designate a member of the task force
71	71	to serve as presiding officer.
72	72	(e) The presiding officer may designate additional experts
73	73	to serve as advisors to the task force.
74	74	(f) A person designated to make an appointment of a member
75	75	of the task force shall make the appointment not later than the 60th
76	76	day after the effective date of this Act. The designated person
77	77	shall fill a vacancy in the task force or a vacancy in the position
78	78	of presiding officer of the task force by the appointment of another
79	79	person with the same qualifications as the original appointee.
80	80	(g) The presiding officer shall call the initial meeting of
81	81	the task force on or before December 1, 2015. The task force shall
82	82	meet at the times and places that the presiding officer determines
83	83	are appropriate. The task force shall adopt rules necessary to
84	84	fulfill the task force's duties under this Act.
85	85	(h) A member of the task force is not entitled to
86	86	compensation but may be entitled to reimbursement for the member's
87	87	actual and necessary expenses incurred in attending meetings of the
88	88	task force and performing other official duties authorized by the
89	89	presiding officer of the task force, if funding is available.
90	90	(i) The task force may request meeting facilities, data,
91	91	clerical help, or other assistance from any department, agency,
92	92	institution, office, or political subdivision of this state.
93	93	(j) State funds may not be appropriated for purposes of the
94	94	task force. The task force may apply for, receive, and accept
95	95	grants of funds or other contributions as appropriate to assist in
96	96	the performance of its duties. The task force may contract for
97	97	consultants or technical assistance.
98	98	(k) The task force is not subject to Chapter 2110,
99	99	Government Code.
100	100	SECTION 2. DUTIES OF TASK FORCE. (a) After evaluating the
101	101	proposal described by Section 1(b) of this Act, the task force shall
102	102	determine whether the legislature should implement that proposal.
103	103	To make the determination, the task force shall consider:
104	104	(1) the potential short-term and long-term benefits to
105	105	offenders, victims, and taxpayers;
106	106	(2) the requirements of federal law, including the
107	107	Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (42 U.S.C. Section 15601 et
108	108	seq.), for the confinement of persons 17 years of age;
109	109	(3) the implications of the decisions of the United
110	110	States Supreme Court in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. ____ (2012), and
111	111	similar cases involving the sentencing of persons younger than 18
112	112	years of age;
113	113	(4) appropriate sanctions, services, and treatment
114	114	programs for persons 17 years of age who have committed criminal
115	115	offenses and the effectiveness of the sanctions, services, and
116	116	programs;
117	117	(5) best practices and national trends in the
118	118	prosecution and sentencing of persons younger than 18 years of age;
119	119	(6) data about the nature and frequency of offenses
120	120	committed by persons 17 years of age in this state;
121	121	(7) the projected costs and savings for the state
122	122	criminal court and juvenile court systems, state and local law
123	123	enforcement, local adult and juvenile probation departments, state
124	124	and local correctional facilities, and facilities operated by the
125	125	Texas Juvenile Justice Department;
126	126	(8) which criminal and juvenile justice laws to amend,
127	127	including laws relating to traffic offenses, offenses under the
128	128	Education Code or Alcoholic Beverage Code, and laws relating to
129	129	criminal records; and
130	130	(9) any other issues that the task force considers
131	131	relevant to the proposal.
132	132	(b) The task force shall:
133	133	(1) develop the implementation plan relating to the
134	134	proposal described by Section 1(b) of this Act;
135	135	(2) calculate the projected state and local adult and
136	136	juvenile correctional facility populations if the plan is
137	137	implemented;
138	138	(3) conduct a cost-benefit analysis for each part of
139	139	the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems and for offenders,
140	140	victims, and taxpayers if the plan is implemented; and
141	141	(4) make findings and recommendations and describe
142	142	policy considerations relating to whether the proposal should be
143	143	adopted.
144	144	SECTION 3. REPORT. Not later than December 1, 2016, the
145	145	task force shall deliver an interim report of the task force's
146	146	findings and recommendations, including legislative,
147	147	administrative, and funding recommendations, to the governor, the
148	148	lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
149	149	the standing committees of each house of the legislature with
150	150	primary jurisdiction over criminal justice and juvenile justice
151	151	matters, the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, the
152	152	executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and
153	153	the executive director of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
154	154	SECTION 4. FINAL REPORT. The task force shall deliver a
155	155	final report not later than December 1, 2018, to the persons listed
156	156	in Section 3 of this Act describing the results of the
157	157	implementation of the laws enacted by the 85th Legislature relating
158	158	to the task force's recommendations and providing additional
159	159	legislative, administrative, or funding recommendations to make
160	160	the change in law more effective.
161	161	SECTION 5. EXPIRATION. The task force is abolished and this
162	162	Act expires August 31, 2019.
163	163	SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect
164	164	immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members
165	165	elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas
166	166	Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for
167	167	immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2015.