| 1 | 1 | | 2019S0207-1 02/13/19 |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Menéndez S.B. No. 1541 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to reporting requirements regarding child abuse and |
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| 8 | 8 | | neglect, including the offense of failure to report abuse or |
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| 9 | 9 | | neglect of a child; increasing criminal penalties. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 261.101(a), Family Code, is amended to |
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| 12 | 12 | | read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (a) A person having cause to believe that a child's physical |
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| 14 | 14 | | or mental health or welfare has been adversely affected by abuse or |
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| 15 | 15 | | neglect by any person shall [immediately] make a report as provided |
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| 16 | 16 | | by this subchapter not later than the 72nd hour after the hour the |
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| 17 | 17 | | person first suspects that the child's physical or mental health or |
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| 18 | 18 | | welfare has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect. |
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| 19 | 19 | | SECTION 2. Section 261.109, Family Code, is amended by |
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| 20 | 20 | | amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1), (b-2), and |
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| 21 | 21 | | (b-3) to read as follows: |
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| 22 | 22 | | (b) Except as provided by Subsections (b-1) and (b-2), an |
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| 23 | 23 | | [An] offense under Subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor. |
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| 24 | 24 | | (b-1) An offense under Subsection (a)[, except that the |
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| 25 | 25 | | offense] is a state jail felony if it is shown on the trial of the |
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| 26 | 26 | | offense that the child was a person with an intellectual disability |
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| 27 | 27 | | who resided in a state supported living center, the ICF-IID |
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| 28 | 28 | | component of the Rio Grande State Center, or a facility licensed |
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| 29 | 29 | | under Chapter 252, Health and Safety Code, and the actor knew that |
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| 30 | 30 | | the child had suffered serious bodily injury as a result of the |
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| 31 | 31 | | abuse or neglect. |
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| 32 | 32 | | (b-2) An offense under Subsection (a) is a state jail felony |
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| 33 | 33 | | if it is shown on the trial of the offense that: |
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| 34 | 34 | | (1) at the time of the offense the person had cause to |
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| 35 | 35 | | believe that the child had suffered significant bodily injury as a |
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| 36 | 36 | | result of the abuse or neglect; and |
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| 37 | 37 | | (2) the child suffered significant bodily injury as a |
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| 38 | 38 | | result of the abuse or neglect. |
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| 39 | 39 | | (b-3) For purposes of Subsection (b-2), "significant bodily |
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| 40 | 40 | | injury" means an injury that results in an impairment to bodily |
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| 41 | 41 | | function, or in a dysfunction of any bodily organ or part, that |
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| 42 | 42 | | would cause a reasonably prudent person to seek treatment from a |
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| 43 | 43 | | medical professional. |
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| 44 | 44 | | SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 45 | 45 | | an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
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| 46 | 46 | | offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed |
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| 47 | 47 | | by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the |
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| 48 | 48 | | former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
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| 49 | 49 | | this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
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| 50 | 50 | | this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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| 51 | 51 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 52 | 52 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 53 | 53 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 54 | 54 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 55 | 55 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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