By: Creighton S.B. No. 1924
(In the Senate - Filed March 5, 2025; March 17, 2025, read
first time and referred to Committee on Education K-16;
April 7, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 1; April 7, 2025,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1924 By: Middleton
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the enforcement of certain criminal offenses on school
property.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 45A.453(h), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(h) Except as provided by Subsection (i) [and Section
37.143(a), Education Code], for a traffic offense or an offense
punishable by fine only, a law enforcement officer may issue a
citation as provided by Article 14.06 instead of taking a child into
custody.
SECTION 2. Section 28.025(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) A person may receive a diploma if the person is eligible
for a diploma under Section 28.0251. In other cases, a student may
graduate and receive a diploma only if:
(1) the student successfully completes the curriculum
requirements identified by the State Board of Education under
Subsection (a) and complies with Sections 28.0256, 28.02565, and
39.025; or
(2) the student successfully completes an
individualized education program developed under Section 29.005.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 28.02565 to read as follows:
Sec. 28.02565. COMPLETION OF COMMUNITY SERVICE AND PAYMENT
OF FINES AND COSTS REQUIRED FOR SCHOOL OFFENSES BEFORE HIGH SCHOOL
GRADUATION. A student who has been convicted of or placed on
deferred adjudication community supervision for a school offense,
as defined by Section 37.141, may not graduate from high school and
receive a diploma unless the court in which the student was
convicted certifies to the school district or open-enrollment
charter school in which the student is enrolled that the student has
discharged all obligations to perform community service and pay
fines and costs imposed for that offense.
SECTION 4. Section 37.143, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.143. [CITATION PROHIBITED;] CUSTODY OF CHILD. [(a)
A peace officer, law enforcement officer, or school resource
officer may not issue a citation to a child who is alleged to have
committed a school offense.
[(b)] This subchapter does not prohibit a child from being
taken into custody under Section 52.01, Family Code.
SECTION 5. Section 37.144, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), a [A] school
district that commissions peace officers under Section 37.081 may
develop a system of graduated sanctions that the school district
may require to be imposed on a child before a complaint is filed
under Section 37.145 against the child for a school offense that is
an offense under Section 37.124 or 37.126 or under Section
42.01(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5), Penal Code. A system adopted
under this section must include multiple graduated sanctions. The
system may require:
(1) a warning letter to be issued to the child and the
child's parent or guardian that specifically states the child's
alleged school offense and explains the consequences if the child
engages in additional misconduct;
(2) a behavior contract with the child that must be
signed by the child, the child's parent or guardian, and an employee
of the school and that includes a specific description of the
behavior that is required or prohibited for the child and the
penalties for additional alleged school offenses, including
additional disciplinary action or the filing of a complaint in a
criminal court;
(3) the performance of school-based community service
by the child; and
(4) the referral of the child to counseling,
community-based services, or other in-school or out-of-school
services aimed at addressing the child's behavioral problems.
(a-1) A school district may not adopt a system of graduated
sanctions before filing a complaint under Section 37.145 against a
child for a school offense if the conduct that constituted the
offense:
(1) posed an imminent threat to a teacher's safety; or
(2) resulted in physical harm to a teacher.
SECTION 6. Section 37.145, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.145. CITATION OR COMPLAINT. (a) If a child is
alleged to have committed a school offense:
(1) a peace officer, law enforcement officer, or
school resource officer may issue a citation to the child;
(2) [If a child fails to comply with or complete
graduated sanctions under Section 37.144, or if the school district
has not elected to adopt a system of graduated sanctions under that
section,] the school may file a complaint against the child with a
criminal court in accordance with Section 37.146, if:
(A) the child fails to comply with or complete
graduated sanctions under Section 37.144; or
(B) the school district has not elected to adopt
a system of graduated sanctions under Section 37.144; or
(3) for a school offense described by Section
37.144(a-1), the school shall file a complaint against the child
with a criminal court in accordance with Section 37.146 unless the
school has been notified under Subsection (b) that a peace officer,
law enforcement officer, or school resource officer has issued a
citation to the child for the alleged offense.
(b) A peace officer, law enforcement officer, or school
resource officer who issues a citation to a child for a school
offense under Subsection (a)(1) shall notify the child's school of
the issuance of the citation.
(c) A peace officer, law enforcement officer, or school
resource officer who issues a citation to a child under Subsection
(a)(1) or a school that files a complaint against a child under
Subsection (a)(2) or (3) shall immediately provide to the parent of
or person standing in parental relation to the child a written
notice regarding the issuance of the citation or filing of the
complaint that includes:
(1) an explanation of the child's and parent's or
person's rights under the law related to the issuance of the
citation to or filing of the complaint against the child, including
the right to legal counsel; and
(2) the potential consequences of the issuance of the
citation to or filing of the complaint against the child, including
the child's possible arrest.
(d) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
System shall adopt a model notice for a peace officer, law
enforcement officer, school resource officer, or school to use for
purposes of Subsection (c).
SECTION 7. Subchapter E-1, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.1455 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.1455. REPORT ON CITATIONS. (a) Not later than the
60th day after the last day of classes for the school year, a school
district or open-enrollment charter school shall provide to the
agency, in the form and manner prescribed by commissioner rule, a
report on the number of citations issued to students enrolled in the
district or school during the preceding school year, disaggregated
by:
(1) the offense for which the citation was issued;
(2) the student's race;
(3) the student's sex;
(4) the student's age;
(5) the student's grade level;
(6) whether the student is eligible for the district's
or school's special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter
29; and
(7) whether the student is educationally
disadvantaged.
(b) The agency shall compile the information reported under
Subsection (a) and publish a report on the information on the
agency's Internet website.
(c) A report required under Subsection (a) or (b) may be
combined with another report required under other law.
SECTION 8. The change in law made 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 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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