By: Menéndez S.B. No. 576
(In the Senate - Filed January 24, 2023; February 17, 2023,
read first time and referred to Committee on Health & Human
Services; April 3, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0;
April 3, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 576 By: Hancock
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of the
criminal offense of financial abuse of an elderly individual.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 48.1522(a), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), if during the
course of the department's or another state agency's investigation
of reported abuse, neglect, or exploitation, including an
investigation of reported abuse, neglect, or exploitation under
Subchapter F, a caseworker of the department or other state agency,
as applicable, or the caseworker's supervisor has cause to believe
that the elderly person or person with a disability has been abused,
neglected, or exploited by another person in a manner that
constitutes a criminal offense under any law, including Sections
[Section] 22.04 and 32.55, Penal Code, the caseworker or supervisor
shall:
(1) immediately notify an appropriate law enforcement
agency, unless the law enforcement agency reported the alleged
abuse, neglect, or exploitation to the department; and
(2) provide the law enforcement agency with a copy of
the investigation report of the department or other state agency,
as applicable, in a timely manner.
SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 48, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 48.2535 to read as follows:
Sec. 48.2535. FORWARDING CERTAIN REPORTS OF CRIMINAL
CONDUCT TO LAW ENFORCEMENT. On receipt by the department of a
report of alleged abuse or exploitation under this subchapter that
the department believes constitutes an offense under Section 32.55,
Penal Code, the department shall immediately notify an appropriate
law enforcement agency, regardless of whether the report alleges
conduct that constitutes abuse or exploitation for purposes of this
subchapter.
SECTION 3. Section 32.55, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) There is a rebuttable presumption that any transfer,
appropriation, or use of an elderly individual's money or other
property by a person described by Subsection (b)(5) constitutes
conduct in violation of this section if it is shown on the trial of
the offense that the actor knew or should have known that, at the
time of the offense, the elderly individual had been diagnosed with
dementia, Alzheimer's disease, or a related disorder.
SECTION 4. Section 48.2535, Human Resources Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to a report received by the Department of
Family and Protective Services on or after the effective date of
this Act.
SECTION 5. Section 32.55(f), Penal Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective
date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was
committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
occurred before that date.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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