By: Whitmire S.B. No. 1698
(In the Senate - Filed March 6, 2019; March 14, 2019, read
first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
April 23, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 23, 2019,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1698 By: Perry
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility of certain juvenile offenders to be
transferred to criminal court.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 54.02(a) and (j), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The juvenile court may waive its exclusive original
jurisdiction and transfer a child to the appropriate district court
or criminal district court for criminal proceedings if:
(1) the child is alleged to have violated a penal law
of the grade of felony;
(2) the child was:
(A) 14 years of age or older at the time the child
[he] is alleged to have committed the offense, if the offense is a
capital felony, an aggravated controlled substance felony, or a
felony of the first degree, and no adjudication hearing has been
conducted concerning that offense; or
(B) 15 years of age or older at the time the child
is alleged to have committed the offense, if the offense is a felony
of the second or third degree [or a state jail felony], and no
adjudication hearing has been conducted concerning that offense;
and
(3) after a full investigation and a hearing, the
juvenile court determines that there is probable cause to believe
that the child before the court committed the offense alleged and
that because of the seriousness of the offense alleged or the
background of the child the welfare of the community requires
criminal proceedings.
(j) The juvenile court may waive its exclusive original
jurisdiction and transfer a person to the appropriate district
court or criminal district court for criminal proceedings if:
(1) the person is 18 years of age or older;
(2) the person was:
(A) 10 years of age or older and under 17 years of
age at the time the person is alleged to have committed a capital
felony or an offense under Section 19.02, Penal Code;
(B) 14 years of age or older and under 17 years of
age at the time the person is alleged to have committed an
aggravated controlled substance felony or a felony of the first
degree other than an offense under Section 19.02, Penal Code; or
(C) 15 years of age or older and under 17 years of
age at the time the person is alleged to have committed a felony of
the second or third degree [or a state jail felony];
(3) no adjudication concerning the alleged offense has
been made or no adjudication hearing concerning the offense has
been conducted;
(4) the juvenile court finds from a preponderance of
the evidence that:
(A) for a reason beyond the control of the state
it was not practicable to proceed in juvenile court before the 18th
birthday of the person; or
(B) after due diligence of the state it was not
practicable to proceed in juvenile court before the 18th birthday
of the person because:
(i) the state did not have probable cause to
proceed in juvenile court and new evidence has been found since the
18th birthday of the person;
(ii) the person could not be found; or
(iii) a previous transfer order was
reversed by an appellate court or set aside by a district court; and
(5) the juvenile court determines that there is
probable cause to believe that the child before the court committed
the offense alleged.
SECTION 2. This Act applies only to conduct that occurs on
or after the effective date of this Act. Conduct that occurs before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the conduct occurred, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose. For the purposes of this section, conduct
occurred before the effective date of this Act if any element of the
conduct occurred before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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