Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB741 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R1914 ADM-F
2	2	By: West S.B. No. 741
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to criminal procedures related to certain offenses
8	8	committed by a student on property under control of a school
9	9	district.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 37.141(2), Education Code, is amended to
12	12	read as follows:
13	13	(2) "School offense" means an offense committed by a
14	14	child enrolled in a public school that is a Class C misdemeanor
15	15	other than a traffic offense and that is committed on property under
16	16	the control and jurisdiction of a school district, including a
17	17	public school campus and the school grounds on which a public school
18	18	is located, regardless of whether the offense is committed during
19	19	the school year or during the summer session.
20	20	SECTION 2. Section 37.144(a), Education Code, is amended to
21	21	read as follows:
22	22	(a) A school district [that commissions peace officers
23	23	under Section 37.081] may develop a system of graduated sanctions
24	24	that the school district may require to be imposed on a child before
25	25	a complaint is filed under Section 37.145 against the child for a
26	26	school offense that is an offense [under Section 37.124 or 37.126
27	27	or] under Section 42.01(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5), Penal
28	28	Code. A system adopted under this section must include multiple
29	29	graduated sanctions. The system may require:
30	30	(1) a warning letter to be issued to the child and the
31	31	child's parent or guardian that specifically states the child's
32	32	alleged school offense and explains the consequences if the child
33	33	engages in additional misconduct;
34	34	(2) a behavior contract with the child that must be
35	35	signed by the child, the child's parent or guardian, and an employee
36	36	of the school and that includes a specific description of the
37	37	behavior that is required or prohibited for the child and the
38	38	penalties for additional alleged school offenses, including
39	39	additional disciplinary action or the filing of a complaint in a
40	40	criminal court;
41	41	(3) the performance of school-based community service
42	42	by the child; and
43	43	(4) the referral of the child to counseling,
44	44	community-based services, or other in-school or out-of-school
45	45	services aimed at addressing the child's behavioral problems.
46	46	SECTION 3. Section 37.146, Education Code, is amended by
47	47	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
48	48	follows:
49	49	(a) A complaint alleging the commission of a school offense
50	50	must, in addition to the requirements imposed by Article 45.019,
51	51	Code of Criminal Procedure:
52	52	(1) be sworn to by a person who has personal knowledge
53	53	of the underlying facts giving rise to probable cause to believe
54	54	that an offense has been committed; [and]
55	55	(2) be accompanied by a statement from a school
56	56	employee stating:
57	57	(A) whether the child is eligible for or receives
58	58	special services under Subchapter A, Chapter 29; and
59	59	(B) the graduated sanctions, if required under
60	60	Section 37.144, that were imposed on the child before the complaint
61	61	was filed; and
62	62	(3) be accompanied by a statement by a victim of the
63	63	alleged conduct, if any.
64	64	(c) A court shall dismiss a complaint made by a school
65	65	district that is not made in compliance with Subsection (a).
66	66	SECTION 4. Section 8.07(e), Penal Code, is amended to read
67	67	as follows:
68	68	(e) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution of [A person
69	69	who is at least 10 years of age but younger than 15 years of age is
70	70	presumed incapable of committing] an offense described by
71	71	Subsection (a)(4) or (5), other than an offense under a juvenile
72	72	curfew ordinance or order, that the actor was at least 10 years of
73	73	age but younger than 15 years of age at the time of the alleged
74	74	offense and did not have sufficient capacity to understand that the
75	75	conduct engaged in was wrong at the time the conduct was engaged
76	76	in. [This presumption may be refuted if the prosecution proves to
77	77	the court by a preponderance of the evidence that the actor had
78	78	sufficient capacity to understand that the conduct engaged in was
79	79	wrong at the time the conduct was engaged in.] The prosecution is
80	80	not required to prove that the actor at the time of engaging in the
81	81	conduct knew that the act was a criminal offense or knew the legal
82	82	consequences of the offense.
83	83	SECTION 5. Articles 45.058(i) and (j), Code of Criminal
84	84	Procedure, are repealed.
85	85	SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
86	86	an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
87	87	offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered
88	88	by the law in effect at the time the offense was committed, and the
89	89	former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For the
90	90	purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
91	91	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was
92	92	committed before that date.
93	93	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.