H.B. No. 3165
AN ACT
relating to an affirmative defense to an allegation of truant
conduct.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 65.003, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d), (e), and (f) to
read as follows:
(c) It is an affirmative defense to an allegation of truant
conduct that one or more of the absences required to be proven:
(1) have been excused by a school official or by the
court;
(2) [or that one or more of the absences] were
involuntary; or
(3) were due to the child's voluntary absence from the
child's home because of abuse, as defined by Section 261.001.
(d) The affirmative defense provided by Subsection (c) is
not available if, after deducting the absences described by that
subsection, [but only if] there remains a sufficient [is an
insufficient] number of [unexcused or voluntary] absences
[remaining] to constitute truant conduct.
(e) In asserting an affirmative defense described by
Subsection (c), the [The] burden is on the child to show by a
preponderance of the evidence that the absence:
(1) has been or should be excused;
(2) [or that the absence] was involuntary; or
(3) was due to the child's voluntary absence from the
child's home because of abuse, as defined by Section 261.001.
(f) A decision by the court to excuse an absence for
purposes of an affirmative defense under Subsection (c) [this
subsection] does not affect the ability of the school district to
determine whether to excuse the absence for another purpose.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
school year.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3165 was passed by the House on April
16, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 145, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3165 was passed by the Senate on May
19, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor