Bill Text: TX HB2888 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to establishing the juvenile first offender program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-19 - Referred to Corrections [HB2888 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HB2888-Introduced.html
By: Turner of Harris | H.B. No. 2888 |
|
||
|
||
relating to establishing the juvenile first offender program. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Sec. 52.031. FIRST OFFENDER PROGRAM. (a) A | ||
juvenile board may establish a first offender program under this | ||
section for the referral and disposition of children taken into | ||
custody for: | ||
(1) conduct indicating a need for supervision; or | ||
(2) delinquent conduct other than conduct that | ||
constitutes: | ||
(A) a felony of the first, second, or third | ||
degree, an aggravated controlled substance felony, or a capital | ||
felony; or | ||
(B) a state jail felony or misdemeanor involving | ||
violence to a person or the use or possession of a firearm, illegal | ||
knife, or club, as those terms are defined by Section 46.01, Penal | ||
Code, or a prohibited weapon, as described by Section 46.05, Penal | ||
Code. | ||
(b) Each juvenile board in the county in which a first | ||
offender program is established shall designate one or more law | ||
enforcement officers and agencies, or a juvenile probation | ||
department [ |
||
child under the first offender program. | ||
(c) The disposition of a child under the first offender | ||
program may not take place until guidelines for the disposition | ||
have been adopted by the juvenile board of the county in which the | ||
disposition is made as required by Section 52.032. | ||
(d) A law enforcement officer taking a child into custody | ||
may refer the child to the law enforcement officer or agency, or a | ||
juvenile probation department designated under Subsection (b) for | ||
disposition under the first offender program and not refer the | ||
child to juvenile court 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. | ||
(e) A child referred for disposition under the first | ||
offender program may not be detained in law enforcement, or | ||
juvenile probation department custody. | ||
(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; | ||
(2) identify the law enforcement officer or agency, or | ||
juvenile probation department 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. | ||
(g) The child and the parent, guardian, or other custodian | ||
of the child must consent to participation by the child in the first | ||
offender program. | ||
(h) Disposition under a first offender program may include: | ||
(1) voluntary restitution by the child or the parent, | ||
guardian, or other custodian of the child to the victim of the | ||
conduct of the child; | ||
(2) voluntary community service restitution by the | ||
child; | ||
(3) educational, vocational training, counseling, or | ||
other rehabilitative services; and | ||
(4) periodic reporting by the child to the law | ||
enforcement officer or agency, or the juvenile probation department | ||
to which the child has been referred. | ||
(i) The case of a child who successfully completes the first | ||
offender program is closed and may not be referred to juvenile | ||
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 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. | ||
(k) A statement made by a child to a person giving advice or | ||
supervision or participating in the first offender program may not | ||
be used against the child in any proceeding under this title or any | ||
criminal proceeding. | ||
(l) The law enforcement agency, or the juvenile probation | ||
department must report to the juvenile board in December of each | ||
year the following: | ||
(1) the last known address of the child, including the | ||
census tract; | ||
(2) the gender and ethnicity of the child referred to | ||
the program; and | ||
(3) the offense committed by the child. | ||
(m) The law enforcement agency, juvenile probation | ||
department, or other agency is prohibited from sending information | ||
about the arrest or referral of a child who completes the program to | ||
the statewide Juvenile Justice Information System, unless the child | ||
is taken into custody under (j)(3). | ||
SECTION 2. 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, 2013. |