Bill Text: TX SB741 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to criminal procedures related to certain offenses committed by a student on property under control of a school district.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-02 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB741 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-SB741-Introduced.html
84R1914 ADM-F | ||
By: West | S.B. No. 741 |
|
||
|
||
relating to criminal procedures related to certain offenses | ||
committed by a student on property under control of a school | ||
district. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 37.141(2), Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(2) "School offense" means an offense committed by a | ||
child enrolled in a public school that is a Class C misdemeanor | ||
other than a traffic offense and that is committed on property under | ||
the control and jurisdiction of a school district, including a | ||
public school campus and the school grounds on which a public school | ||
is located, regardless of whether the offense is committed during | ||
the school year or during the summer session. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 37.144(a), Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(a) A school district [ |
||
|
||
that the school district may require to be imposed on a child before | ||
a complaint is filed under Section 37.145 against the child for a | ||
school offense that is an offense [ |
||
|
||
Code. A system adopted under this section must include multiple | ||
graduated sanctions. The system may require: | ||
(1) a warning letter to be issued to the child and the | ||
child's parent or guardian that specifically states the child's | ||
alleged school offense and explains the consequences if the child | ||
engages in additional misconduct; | ||
(2) a behavior contract with the child that must be | ||
signed by the child, the child's parent or guardian, and an employee | ||
of the school and that includes a specific description of the | ||
behavior that is required or prohibited for the child and the | ||
penalties for additional alleged school offenses, including | ||
additional disciplinary action or the filing of a complaint in a | ||
criminal court; | ||
(3) the performance of school-based community service | ||
by the child; and | ||
(4) the referral of the child to counseling, | ||
community-based services, or other in-school or out-of-school | ||
services aimed at addressing the child's behavioral problems. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 37.146, Education Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(a) A complaint alleging the commission of a school offense | ||
must, in addition to the requirements imposed by Article 45.019, | ||
Code of Criminal Procedure: | ||
(1) be sworn to by a person who has personal knowledge | ||
of the underlying facts giving rise to probable cause to believe | ||
that an offense has been committed; [ |
||
(2) be accompanied by a statement from a school | ||
employee stating: | ||
(A) whether the child is eligible for or receives | ||
special services under Subchapter A, Chapter 29; and | ||
(B) the graduated sanctions, if required under | ||
Section 37.144, that were imposed on the child before the complaint | ||
was filed; and | ||
(3) be accompanied by a statement by a victim of the | ||
alleged conduct, if any. | ||
(c) A court shall dismiss a complaint made by a school | ||
district that is not made in compliance with Subsection (a). | ||
SECTION 4. Section 8.07(e), Penal Code, is amended to read | ||
as follows: | ||
(e) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution of [ |
||
|
||
|
||
Subsection (a)(4) or (5), other than an offense under a juvenile | ||
curfew ordinance or order, that the actor was at least 10 years of | ||
age but younger than 15 years of age at the time of the alleged | ||
offense and did not have sufficient capacity to understand that the | ||
conduct engaged in was wrong at the time the conduct was engaged | ||
in. [ |
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
not required to prove that the actor at the time of engaging in the | ||
conduct knew that the act was a criminal offense or knew the legal | ||
consequences of the offense. | ||
SECTION 5. Articles 45.058(i) and (j), Code of Criminal | ||
Procedure, are repealed. | ||
SECTION 6. 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. | ||
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |