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.