|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the prosecution of certain misdemeanor offenses |
|
committed by children and to school district law enforcement. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Article 45.058, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
|
amended by adding Subsections (i) and (j) to read as follows: |
|
(i) If a law enforcement officer issues a citation or files |
|
a complaint in the manner provided by Article 45.018 for conduct by |
|
a child 12 years of age or older that is alleged to have occurred on |
|
school property or on a vehicle owned or operated by a county or |
|
independent school district, the officer shall submit to the court |
|
the offense report, a statement by a witness to the alleged conduct, |
|
and a statement by a victim of the alleged conduct, if any. An |
|
attorney representing the state may not proceed in a trial of an |
|
offense unless the law enforcement officer complied with the |
|
requirements of this subsection. |
|
(j) Notwithstanding Subsection (g) or (g-1), a law |
|
enforcement officer may not issue a citation or file a complaint in |
|
the manner provided by Article 45.018 for conduct by a child younger |
|
than 12 years of age that is alleged to have occurred on school |
|
property or on a vehicle owned or operated by a county or |
|
independent school district. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 25.0915, Education Code, is amended by |
|
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows: |
|
(c) A court shall dismiss a complaint or referral made by a |
|
school district under this section that is not made in compliance |
|
with Subsection (b). |
|
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 37.001, Education Code, |
|
is amended to read as follows: |
|
(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district |
|
shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established |
|
under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for |
|
the district. The student code of conduct must be posted and |
|
prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for |
|
review at the office of the campus principal. In addition to |
|
establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of |
|
conduct must: |
|
(1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this |
|
subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom, |
|
campus, [or] disciplinary alternative education program, or |
|
vehicle owned or operated by the district; |
|
(2) specify conditions that authorize or require a |
|
principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student |
|
to a disciplinary alternative education program; |
|
(3) outline conditions under which a student may be |
|
suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by |
|
Section 37.007; |
|
(4) specify that consideration will be given, as a |
|
factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a |
|
disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or |
|
placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program, |
|
regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or |
|
discretionary action, to: |
|
(A) self-defense; |
|
(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the |
|
student engaged in the conduct; |
|
(C) a student's disciplinary history; or |
|
(D) a disability that substantially impairs the |
|
student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's |
|
conduct; |
|
(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a |
|
term of: |
|
(A) a removal under Section 37.006; and |
|
(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007; |
|
(6) address the notification of a student's parent or |
|
guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by |
|
the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary |
|
alternative education program, or expulsion; |
|
(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit |
|
lists and ensure that district employees enforce those |
|
prohibitions; and |
|
(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade |
|
level, methods, including options, for: |
|
(A) managing students in the classroom, [and] on |
|
school grounds, and on a vehicle owned or operated by the district; |
|
(B) disciplining students; and |
|
(C) preventing and intervening in student |
|
discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making |
|
hit lists. |
|
SECTION 4. Subsections (b), (d), and (f), Section 37.081, |
|
Education Code, are amended to read as follows: |
|
(b) In a peace officer's jurisdiction, a peace officer |
|
commissioned under this section: |
|
(1) has the powers, privileges, and immunities of |
|
peace officers; |
|
(2) may enforce all laws, including municipal |
|
ordinances, county ordinances, and state laws; and |
|
(3) may, in accordance with Chapter 52, Family Code, |
|
or Article 45.058, Code of Criminal Procedure, take a child |
|
[juvenile] into custody. |
|
(d) A school district peace officer shall perform |
|
[administrative and] law enforcement duties for the school district |
|
as determined by the board of trustees of the school district. |
|
Those duties must include protecting: |
|
(1) the safety and welfare of any person in the |
|
jurisdiction of the peace officer; and |
|
(2) the property of the school district. |
|
(f) The chief of police of the school district police |
|
department shall be accountable to the superintendent and shall |
|
report to the superintendent [or the superintendent's designee]. |
|
School district police officers shall be supervised by the chief of |
|
police of the school district or the chief of police's designee and |
|
shall be licensed by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer |
|
Standards and Education. |
|
SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 37, Education Code, is |
|
amended by adding Section 37.085 to read as follows: |
|
Sec. 37.085. ARRESTS PROHIBITED FOR CERTAIN CLASS C |
|
MISDEMEANORS. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a |
|
warrant may not be issued for the arrest of a person for a Class C |
|
misdemeanor under this code committed when the person was younger |
|
than 17 years of age. |
|
SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 37.124, Education Code, |
|
is amended to read as follows: |
|
(a) A person other than a primary or secondary grade student |
|
enrolled in the school commits an offense if the person, on school |
|
property or on public property within 500 feet of school property, |
|
alone or in concert with others, intentionally disrupts the conduct |
|
of classes or other school activities. |
|
SECTION 7. Subsection (a), Section 37.126, Education Code, |
|
is amended to read as follows: |
|
(a) Except as provided by Section 37.125, a person other |
|
than a primary or secondary grade student commits an offense if the |
|
person intentionally disrupts, prevents, or interferes with the |
|
lawful transportation of children: |
|
(1) to or from school on a vehicle owned or operated by |
|
a county or independent school district; or |
|
(2) to or from an activity sponsored by a school on a |
|
vehicle owned or operated by a county or independent school |
|
district. |
|
SECTION 8. Section 52.031, Family Code, is amended by |
|
adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsections (d), (f), (i), and |
|
(j) to read as follows: |
|
(a-1) A child accused of a Class C misdemeanor, other than a |
|
traffic offense, may be referred to a first offender program |
|
established under this section prior to the filing of a complaint |
|
with a criminal court. |
|
(d) A law enforcement officer taking a child into custody |
|
for conduct described by Subsection (a) or before issuing a |
|
citation to a child for an offense described by Subsection (a-1) may |
|
refer the child to the law enforcement officer or agency designated |
|
under Subsection (b) for disposition under the first offender |
|
program and not refer the child to juvenile court for the conduct or |
|
file a complaint with a criminal court for the offense only if: |
|
(1) the child has not previously been adjudicated as |
|
having engaged in delinquent conduct; |
|
(2) the referral complies with guidelines for |
|
disposition under Subsection (c); and |
|
(3) the officer reports in writing the referral to the |
|
agency, identifying the child and specifying the grounds for taking |
|
the child into custody or for accusing the child of an offense. |
|
(f) The parent, guardian, or other custodian of the child |
|
must receive notice that the child has been referred for |
|
disposition under the first offender program. The notice must: |
|
(1) state the grounds for taking the child into |
|
custody for conduct described by Subsection (a), or for accusing |
|
the child of an offense described by Subsection (a-1); |
|
(2) identify the law enforcement officer or agency to |
|
which the child was referred; |
|
(3) briefly describe the nature of the program; and |
|
(4) state that the child's failure to complete the |
|
program will result in the child being referred to the juvenile |
|
court for the conduct or a complaint being filed with a criminal |
|
court for the offense. |
|
(i) The case of a child who successfully completes the first |
|
offender program is closed and may not be referred to juvenile court |
|
or filed with a criminal court, unless the child is taken into |
|
custody under circumstances described by Subsection (j)(3). |
|
(j) The case of a child referred for disposition under the |
|
first offender program shall be referred to juvenile court or, if |
|
the child is accused of an offense described by Subsection (a-1), |
|
filed with a criminal court if: |
|
(1) the child fails to complete the program; |
|
(2) the child or the parent, guardian, or other |
|
custodian of the child terminates the child's participation in the |
|
program before the child completes it; or |
|
(3) the child completes the program but is taken into |
|
custody under Section 52.01 before the 90th day after the date the |
|
child completes the program for conduct other than the conduct for |
|
which the child was referred to the first offender program. |
|
SECTION 9. Section 42.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
|
Subsection (a-1) to read as follows: |
|
(a-1) For purposes of Subsection (a), the term "public |
|
place" includes a public school campus or the school grounds on |
|
which a public school is located. |
|
SECTION 10. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of |
|
this section, the changes in law made by this Act apply 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 covered |
|
by the law in effect at the time the offense was committed, and the |
|
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For the |
|
purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the |
|
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was |
|
committed before that date. |
|
(b) Section 37.085, Education Code, as added by this Act, |
|
applies to an offense committed before, on, or after the effective |
|
date of this Act. |
|
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |
|
|
|
* * * * * |