87R2348 KJE-D
By: Burns H.B. No. 822
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring the expulsion of a public school student who
engages in certain conduct that constitutes the felony offense of
terroristic threat.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 37.007(a), (b), and (i), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (k), a student shall be
expelled from a school if the student:
(1) engages in conduct involving a public school that
contains the elements of the offense of terroristic threat under
Section 22.07, Penal Code, if the conduct is punishable as a felony;
or
(2) while [,] on school property or while attending a
school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off of school
property:
(A) [(1)] engages in conduct that contains the
elements of the offense of unlawfully carrying weapons under
Section 46.02, Penal Code, or elements of an offense relating to
prohibited weapons under Section 46.05, Penal Code;
(B) [(2)] engages in conduct that contains the
elements of the offense of:
(i) [(A)] aggravated assault under Section
22.02, Penal Code, sexual assault under Section 22.011, Penal Code,
or aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021, Penal Code;
(ii) [(B)] arson under Section 28.02, Penal
Code;
(iii) [(C)] murder under Section 19.02,
Penal Code, capital murder under Section 19.03, Penal Code, or
criminal attempt, under Section 15.01, Penal Code, to commit murder
or capital murder;
(iv) [(D)] indecency with a child under
Section 21.11, Penal Code;
(v) [(E)] aggravated kidnapping under
Section 20.04, Penal Code;
(vi) [(F)] aggravated robbery under Section
29.03, Penal Code;
(vii) [(G)] manslaughter under Section
19.04, Penal Code;
(viii) [(H)] criminally negligent homicide
under Section 19.05, Penal Code; or
(ix) [(I)] continuous sexual abuse of young
child or children under Section 21.02, Penal Code; or
(C) [(3)] engages in conduct specified by
Section 37.006(a)(2)(C) or (D), if the conduct is punishable as a
felony.
(b) A student may be expelled if the student:
(1) engages in conduct involving a public school that
contains the elements of the offense of:
(A) false alarm or report under Section 42.06,
Penal Code;[,] or
(B) terroristic threat under Section 22.07,
Penal Code, if the conduct is punishable as a misdemeanor;
(2) while on or within 300 feet of school property, as
measured from any point on the school's real property boundary
line, or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related
activity on or off of school property:
(A) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
or possesses, uses, or is under the influence of any amount of:
(i) marihuana or a controlled substance, as
defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
Section 801 et seq.;
(ii) a dangerous drug, as defined by
Chapter 483, Health and Safety Code; or
(iii) an alcoholic beverage, as defined by
Section 1.04, Alcoholic Beverage Code;
(B) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of an offense relating to an abusable volatile chemical under
Sections 485.031 through 485.034, Health and Safety Code;
(C) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code, against a
school district employee or a volunteer as defined by Section
22.053; or
(D) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of deadly conduct under Section 22.05, Penal Code;
(3) subject to Subsection (d), while within 300 feet
of school property, as measured from any point on the school's real
property boundary line:
(A) engages in conduct specified by Subsection
(a)(2) [(a)]; or
(B) possesses a firearm, as defined by 18 U.S.C.
Section 921;
(4) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
any offense listed in Subsection (a)(2)(B)(i) [(a)(2)(A)] or (iii)
[(C)] or the offense of aggravated robbery under Section 29.03,
Penal Code, against another student, without regard to whether the
conduct occurs on or off of school property or while attending a
school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off of school
property; or
(5) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
the offense of breach of computer security under Section 33.02,
Penal Code, if:
(A) the conduct involves accessing a computer,
computer network, or computer system owned by or operated on behalf
of a school district; and
(B) the student knowingly:
(i) alters, damages, or deletes school
district property or information; or
(ii) commits a breach of any other
computer, computer network, or computer system.
(i) A student who engages in conduct described by Subsection
(a)(2) [(a)] may be expelled from school by the district in which
the student attends school if the student engages in that conduct:
(1) on school property of another district in this
state; or
(2) while attending a school-sponsored or
school-related activity of a school in another district in this
state.
SECTION 2. Section 37.002(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) A teacher shall remove from class and send to the
principal for placement in a disciplinary alternative education
program or for expulsion, as appropriate, a student who engages in
conduct described under Section 37.006 or 37.007. The student may
not be returned to that teacher's class without the teacher's
consent unless the committee established under Section 37.003
determines that such placement is the best or only alternative
available. If the teacher removed the student from class because
the student has engaged in the elements of any offense listed in
Section 37.006(a)(2)(B) or Section 37.007(a)(2)(B)(i)
[37.007(a)(2)(A)] or (b)(2)(C) against the teacher, the student may
not be returned to the teacher's class without the teacher's
consent. The teacher may not be coerced to consent.
SECTION 3. Section 37.0021(f), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(f) For purposes of this subsection, "weapon" includes any
weapon described under Section 37.007(a)(2)(A) [37.007(a)(1)].
This section does not prevent a student's locked, unattended
confinement in an emergency situation while awaiting the arrival of
law enforcement personnel if:
(1) the student possesses a weapon; and
(2) the confinement is necessary to prevent the
student from causing bodily harm to the student or another person.
SECTION 4. Section 37.006(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A student shall be removed from class and placed in a
disciplinary alternative education program as provided by Section
37.008 if the student:
(1) engages in conduct involving a public school that
contains the elements of the offense of false alarm or report under
Section 42.06, Penal Code[, or terroristic threat under Section
22.07, Penal Code]; or
(2) commits the following on or within 300 feet of
school property, as measured from any point on the school's real
property boundary line, or while attending a school-sponsored or
school-related activity on or off of school property:
(A) engages in conduct punishable as a felony;
(B) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code;
(C) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
or possesses or uses or is under the influence of:
(i) marihuana or a controlled substance, as
defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
Section 801 et seq.; or
(ii) a dangerous drug, as defined by
Chapter 483, Health and Safety Code;
(D) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
an alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section 1.04, Alcoholic
Beverage Code, commits a serious act or offense while under the
influence of alcohol, or possesses, uses, or is under the influence
of an alcoholic beverage;
(E) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of an offense relating to an abusable volatile chemical under
Sections 485.031 through 485.034, Health and Safety Code;
(F) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal Code,
or indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal Code; or
(G) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of harassment under Section 42.07(a)(1), (2), (3),
or (7), Penal Code, against an employee of the school district.
SECTION 5. Section 37.011(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) If a student admitted into the public schools of a
school district under Section 25.001(b) is expelled from school for
conduct for which expulsion is required under Section 37.007(a),
(d), or (e), [or for conduct that contains the elements of the
offense of terroristic threat as described by Section 22.07(c-1),
(d), or (e), Penal Code,] the juvenile court, the juvenile board, or
the juvenile board's designee, as appropriate, shall:
(1) if the student is placed on probation under
Section 54.04, Family Code, order the student to attend the
juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in
which the student resides from the date of disposition as a
condition of probation, unless the child is placed in a
post-adjudication treatment facility;
(2) if the student is placed on deferred prosecution
under Section 53.03, Family Code, by the court, prosecutor, or
probation department, require the student to immediately attend the
juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in
which the student resides for a period not to exceed six months as a
condition of the deferred prosecution;
(3) in determining the conditions of the deferred
prosecution or court-ordered probation, consider the length of the
school district's expulsion order for the student; and
(4) provide timely educational services to the student
in the juvenile justice alternative education program in the county
in which the student resides, regardless of the student's age or
whether the juvenile court has jurisdiction over the student.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
school year.
SECTION 7. 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.