| 1 | 1 | | By: Guillen H.B. No. 3764 |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | relating to the authority of a college to adopt a sexual harassment |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | policy. |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Section 51.282(a), Education Code, is amended to |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | read as follows: |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | (a) Each postsecondary educational institution shall adopt |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | a policy on sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, and |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | stalking applicable to each student enrolled at and each employee |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | of the institution. The policy must: |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | (1) include: |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | (A) definitions of prohibited behavior; |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | (B) sanctions for violations; |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | (C) the protocol for reporting and responding to |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | reports of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, and |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | stalking; |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | (D) interim measures to protect victims of sexual |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking during the |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | pendency of the institution's disciplinary process, including |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | protection from retaliation, and any other accommodations |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | available to those victims at the institution; and |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | (E) a statement regarding: |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | (i) the importance of a victim of sexual |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking going to a |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | hospital for treatment and preservation of evidence, if applicable, |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | as soon as practicable after the incident; |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | (ii) the right of a victim of sexual |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking to report |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | the incident to the institution and to receive a prompt and |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | equitable resolution of the report; and |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | (iii) the right of a victim of a crime to |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | choose whether to report the crime to law enforcement, to be |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | assisted by the institution in reporting the crime to law |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | enforcement, or to decline to report the crime to law enforcement; |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | and |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | (2) be approved by the institution's governing board |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | before final adoption by the institution.;and |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | (3) for institutions with an enrollment of less than |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | 5,000 students, any policy changes implemented after the initial |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | approval can be made by the institution's President's Council or |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | other body that traditionally approves the institution's internal |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | policy. |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
|---|