Bill Text: TX SB1488 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to truancy and the offense of a parent contributing to nonattendance; creating an offense; increasing a criminal penalty.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-16 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB1488 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB1488-Introduced.html

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88R9585 MCF-D
By: Creighton S.B. No. 1488

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to truancy and the offense of a parent contributing to
nonattendance; creating an offense; increasing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 45.0541(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) In this article, "truancy offense" means an offense
committed under:
(1) the former Section 25.094, Education Code; or
(2) Section 65.003, Family Code.
SECTION 2. Section 25.093(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) An offense under Subsection (a) is a Class C
misdemeanor[, punishable by fine only, in an amount not to exceed:
[(1) $100 for a first offense;
[(2) $200 for a second offense;
[(3) $300 for a third offense;
[(4) $400 for a fourth offense; or
[(5) $500 for a fifth or subsequent offense].
SECTION 3. Section 25.095(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
shall notify a student's parent in writing at the beginning of the
school year that if the student is absent from school on 10 or more
days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same school
year:
(1) the student's parent is subject to prosecution
under Section 25.093; and
(2) the student is subject to referral to and
prosecution by a truancy court for truant conduct under Section
65.003(a), Family Code.
SECTION 4. Section 65.001(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The purpose of this chapter is to encourage school
attendance by creating simple [civil judicial] procedures through
which children are held accountable for excessive school absences.
SECTION 5. The heading to Section 65.003, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 65.003. TRUANT CONDUCT; OFFENSE.
SECTION 6. Sections 65.003(a), (b), (c), and (d), Family
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a [A] child commits an
offense [engages in truant conduct] if the child is required to
attend school under Section 25.085, Education Code, and fails to
attend school on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month
period in the same school year.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor
[Truant conduct may be prosecuted only as a civil case in a truancy
court].
(c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
section [an allegation of truant conduct] that one or more of the
absences required to be proven:
(1) have been excused by a school official or by the
court;
(2) were involuntary; or
(3) were due to the child's voluntary absence from the
child's home because of abuse, as defined by Section 261.001.
(d) The affirmative defense provided by Subsection (c) is
not available if, after deducting the absences described by that
subsection, there remains a sufficient number of absences to
constitute an offense under this section [truant conduct].
SECTION 7. Section 65.101(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A child may be found to have committed an offense under
Section 65.003 [engaged in truant conduct] only after an
adjudication hearing conducted in accordance with the provisions of
this chapter.
SECTION 8. Section 65.103, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 65.103. REMEDIAL ORDER. (a) A truancy court may enter
a remedial order requiring a child who has committed an offense
under Section 65.003 [been found to have engaged in truant conduct]
to:
(1) attend school without unexcused absences;
(2) attend a preparatory class for the high school
equivalency examination administered under Section 7.111,
Education Code, if the court determines that the individual is
unlikely to do well in a formal classroom environment due to the
individual's age;
(3) if the child is at least 16 years of age, take the
high school equivalency examination administered under Section
7.111, Education Code, if that is in the best interest of the child;
(4) attend a nonprofit, community-based special
program that the court determines to be in the best interest of the
child, including:
(A) an alcohol and drug abuse program;
(B) a rehabilitation program;
(C) a counseling program, including a
self-improvement program;
(D) a program that provides training in
self-esteem and leadership;
(E) a work and job skills training program;
(F) a program that provides training in
parenting, including parental responsibility;
(G) a program that provides training in manners;
(H) a program that provides training in violence
avoidance;
(I) a program that provides sensitivity
training; and
(J) a program that provides training in advocacy
and mentoring;
(5) complete not more than 50 hours of community
service on a project acceptable to the court; and
(6) participate for a specified number of hours in a
tutorial program covering the academic subjects in which the child
is enrolled that are provided by the school the child attends.
(b) A truancy court may not order a child who has committed
an offense under Section 65.003 [been found to have engaged in
truant conduct] to[:
[(1)] attend a juvenile justice alternative education
program, a boot camp, or a for-profit truancy class[; or
[(2) perform more than 16 hours of community service
per week under this section].
(c) In addition to any other order authorized by this
section, a truancy court may order the Department of Public Safety
to suspend the driver's license or permit of a child who has
committed an offense under Section 65.003 [been found to have
engaged in truant conduct]. If the child does not have a driver's
license or permit, the court may order the Department of Public
Safety to deny the issuance of a license or permit to the child. The
period of the license or permit suspension or the order that the
issuance of a license or permit be denied may not extend beyond the
maximum time period that a remedial order is effective as provided
by Section 65.104.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an offense committed or conduct that occurs on or after the
effective date of this Act. An offense committed or conduct that
occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
in effect on the date the offense was committed or the conduct
occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed or
conduct occurs before the effective date of this Act if any element
of the offense or conduct occurs before that date.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.