By: Bell of Montgomery, Guillen H.B. No. 1062
(Senate Sponsor - Taylor)
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2021;
May 6, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on Veteran
Affairs & Border Security; May 19, 2021, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 19, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility of certain 17-year-old persons to serve
as members of the Texas State Guard.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 437.302, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(b) To serve in the Texas State Guard, a person:
(1) must be a resident of this state for at least 180
days;
(2) must be a citizen of the United States or a person
who has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent
residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
Section 1101 et seq.);
(3) subject to Subsections [Subsection] (c) and (d),
must be at least 17 [18] years of age and not older than 70 years of
age;
(4) must undergo a criminal history check;
(5) must not be a registered sex offender; and
(6) must be acceptable to and approved by the governor
or adjutant general under the governor's direction.
(d) A person who is at least 17 years of age but younger than
18 years of age may serve in the Texas State Guard if the person:
(1) is emancipated by marriage, court order, or other
operation of law; or
(2) provides to the adjutant general, in a form and
manner prescribed by the adjutant general, the written consent of:
(A) each of the person's parents or legal
guardians, other than a parent or legal guardian who is:
(i) deceased;
(ii) determined by a court to be
incapacitated;
(iii) absent at an unknown location for an
indefinite period; or
(iv) confined in jail or prison serving a
term of punishment that will result in the parent or guardian being
released after the person's 18th birthday; or
(B) for a person who is in the managing
conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services
or another legal entity, a representative of the department or
other legal entity.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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