Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB759 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R647 JES-F
2	2	By: Harless H.B. No. 759
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the operation of threat assessment teams in public
8	8	schools and the establishment of a student threat assessment
9	9	database; creating a criminal offense.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 37.115, Education Code, is amended by
12	12	adding Subsections (f-1) and (h-1) to read as follows:
13	13	(f-1) A team must complete a threat assessment of an
14	14	individual as required by Subsection (f) not later than the 30th day
15	15	after the date on which the team began the assessment.
16	16	(h-1) Not later than the 10th day after the date on which a
17	17	team makes a determination that a student poses a serious risk of
18	18	violence to self or others, the team shall:
19	19	(1) enter the student's threat assessment into the
20	20	threat assessment database established under Section 37.1151; and
21	21	(2) make a notation in the student's cumulative record
22	22	that the student is included in the threat assessment database.
23	23	SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
24	24	amended by adding Section 37.1151 to read as follows:
25	25	Sec. 37.1151. STUDENT THREAT ASSESSMENT DATABASE. (a) The
26	26	agency shall establish a database of student threat assessments
27	27	conducted under Section 37.115 in which there was a determination
28	28	that a student poses a serious risk of violence to self or others.
29	29	(b) The agency must allow access to the database reporting a
30	30	student's threat assessment to:
31	31	(1) a peace officer or school resource officer
32	32	assigned to a public or private primary or secondary school or
33	33	open-enrollment charter school that the student has attended or
34	34	currently attends; and
35	35	(2) the principal or principal's designee and the
36	36	superintendent or superintendent's designee at each public or
37	37	private primary or secondary school or open-enrollment charter
38	38	school that the student has attended or currently attends.
39	39	(c) A person authorized to access the threat assessment
40	40	database under Subsection (b) may access information in the
41	41	database solely for the purpose of ensuring school safety and
42	42	security. A person shall keep any information received from the
43	43	database confidential and may not use the information for a purpose
44	44	that does not directly relate to the purpose for which it was
45	45	obtained.
46	46	(d) Information regarding a student's threat assessment
47	47	reported in the threat assessment database must be permanently
48	48	erased from the database on the date that the student reaches 21
49	49	years of age.
50	50	(e) A person who has access to or obtains confidential
51	51	information in the threat assessment database commits an offense if
52	52	the person knowingly:
53	53	(1) uses the information for a purpose other than
54	54	ensuring school safety and security;
55	55	(2) permits inspection of the confidential
56	56	information by a person who is not authorized to inspect the
57	57	information; or
58	58	(3) releases or discloses the confidential
59	59	information to a person who is not entitled to the information.
60	60	(f) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
61	61	(g) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to
62	62	implement this section.
63	63	SECTION 3. (a) Section 37.115(h-1), Education Code, as
64	64	added by this Act, applies beginning January 1, 2022.
65	65	(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
66	66	Act but not later than January 1, 2022, the commissioner of
67	67	education shall establish the threat assessment database as
68	68	required by Section 37.1151, Education Code, as added by this Act.
69	69	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
70	70	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
71	71	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
72	72	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
73	73	Act takes effect September 1, 2021.