Bill Text: TX SB424 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the secure confinement of certain children.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-01 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB424 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SB424-Introduced.html

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85R1737 LHC-F
By: Rodríguez S.B. No. 424

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the secure confinement of certain children.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.04(o), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(o) In a disposition under this title:
(1) a status offender may not, under any
circumstances, be committed to the Texas Juvenile Justice
Department for engaging in conduct that would not, under state or
local law, be a crime if committed by an adult;
(2) a status offender may not, under any circumstances
other than as provided under Subsection (n), be placed in a
post-adjudication secure correctional facility; [and]
(3) a child adjudicated for contempt of a county,
justice, or municipal court order may not, under any circumstances,
be placed in a post-adjudication secure correctional facility or
committed to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department for that
conduct;
(4) a child younger than 14 years of age may not, under
any circumstances, be committed to the Texas Juvenile Justice
Department; and
(5) a child younger than 14 years of age may not be
placed in a post-adjudication secure correctional facility except
as provided by Section 54.04011(c-1).
SECTION 2. Section 54.04011, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
follows:
(c) Subject to Subsection (c-1), after [After] a
disposition hearing held in accordance with Section 54.04, the
juvenile court of a county to which this section applies may commit
a child who is found to have engaged in delinquent conduct that
constitutes a felony to a post-adjudication secure correctional
facility:
(1) without a determinate sentence, if:
(A) the child is found to have engaged in conduct
that violates a penal law of the grade of felony and the petition
was not approved by the grand jury under Section 53.045;
(B) the child is found to have engaged in conduct
that violates a penal law of the grade of felony and the petition
was approved by the grand jury under Section 53.045 but the court or
jury does not make the finding described by Section 54.04(m)(2); or
(C) the disposition is modified under Section
54.05(f); or
(2) with a determinate sentence, if:
(A) the child is found to have engaged in conduct
that included a violation of a penal law listed in Section 53.045 or
that is considered habitual felony conduct as described by Section
51.031, the petition was approved by the grand jury under Section
53.045, and, if applicable, the court or jury makes the finding
described by Section 54.04(m)(2); or
(B) the disposition is modified under Section
54.05(f).
(c-1) After a disposition hearing held in accordance with
Section 54.04, the juvenile court of a county to which this section
applies may commit a child who is younger than 14 years of age and
who is found to have engaged in delinquent conduct that constitutes
a felony to a post-adjudication secure correctional facility as
provided by Subsection (c) only if the court finds that:
(1) as determined by a validated risk and needs
assessment, the child is an at-risk child or has significant needs
that cannot be met outside of a residential setting; and
(2) no other reasonable placement is available for the
child.
SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies to
a child who:
(1) is detained or confined on or after the effective
date of this Act; or
(2) on the effective date of this Act is in detention
or confinement.
(b) Subsection (a) of this section applies regardless of
whether the conduct for which the child was detained or confined
occurred before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.