Bill Text: TX HB1364 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the age of a child at which a juvenile court may exercise jurisdiction over the child and to the minimum age of criminal responsibility.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-04-23 - Received from the House [HB1364 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB1364-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to the age of a child at which a juvenile court may exercise jurisdiction over the child and to the minimum age of criminal responsibility.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-04-23 - Received from the House [HB1364 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB1364-Introduced.html
86R7859 ADM-D | ||
By: Wu | H.B. No. 1364 |
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relating to the age of a child at which a juvenile court may | ||
exercise jurisdiction over the child and to the minimum age of | ||
criminal responsibility. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Article 45.058(h), Code of Criminal Procedure, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
(h) In this article, "child" means a person who is: | ||
(1) at least 12 [ |
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years of age; and | ||
(2) charged with or convicted of an offense that a | ||
justice or municipal court has jurisdiction of under Article 4.11 | ||
or 4.14. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 37.141(1), Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(1) "Child" means a person who is: | ||
(A) a student; and | ||
(B) at least 12 [ |
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18 years of age. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 51.02(2), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(2) "Child" means a person who is: | ||
(A) 12 [ |
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years of age; or | ||
(B) 17 [ |
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under 19 [ |
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(i) alleged or found to have engaged in | ||
delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision as | ||
a result of acts committed before becoming 17 years of age; and | ||
(ii) under the jurisdiction of a juvenile | ||
court. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 54.02(j), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(j) The juvenile court may waive its exclusive original | ||
jurisdiction and transfer a person to the appropriate district | ||
court or criminal district court for criminal proceedings if: | ||
(1) the person is 18 years of age or older; | ||
(2) the person was: | ||
(A) 12 [ |
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years of age at the time the person is alleged to have committed a | ||
capital felony or an offense under Section 19.02, Penal Code; | ||
(B) 14 years of age or older and under 17 years of | ||
age at the time the person is alleged to have committed an | ||
aggravated controlled substance felony or a felony of the first | ||
degree other than an offense under Section 19.02, Penal Code; or | ||
(C) 15 years of age or older and under 17 years of | ||
age at the time the person is alleged to have committed a felony of | ||
the second or third degree or a state jail felony; | ||
(3) no adjudication concerning the alleged offense has | ||
been made or no adjudication hearing concerning the offense has | ||
been conducted; | ||
(4) the juvenile court finds from a preponderance of | ||
the evidence that: | ||
(A) for a reason beyond the control of the state | ||
it was not practicable to proceed in juvenile court before the 18th | ||
birthday of the person; or | ||
(B) after due diligence of the state it was not | ||
practicable to proceed in juvenile court before the 18th birthday | ||
of the person because: | ||
(i) the state did not have probable cause to | ||
proceed in juvenile court and new evidence has been found since the | ||
18th birthday of the person; | ||
(ii) the person could not be found; or | ||
(iii) a previous transfer order was | ||
reversed by an appellate court or set aside by a district court; and | ||
(5) the juvenile court determines that there is | ||
probable cause to believe that the child before the court committed | ||
the offense alleged. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 63.001(1), Human Resources Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(1) "Juvenile" means a person from the age of 12 [ |
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to 18 years who has been found to have engaged in delinquent conduct | ||
by a court of competent jurisdiction. | ||
SECTION 6. Section 201.001(a)(2), Human Resources Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(2) "Child" means an individual 12[ |
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court[ |
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SECTION 7. Sections 8.07(d) and (e), Penal Code, are | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a person may not be | ||
prosecuted for or convicted of an offense described by Subsection | ||
(a)(4) or (5) that the person committed when younger than 12 [ |
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years of age. | ||
(e) A person who is at least 12 [ |
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than 15 years of age is presumed incapable of committing an offense | ||
described by Subsection (a)(4) or (5), other than an offense under a | ||
juvenile curfew ordinance or order. This presumption may be | ||
refuted if the prosecution proves to the court by a preponderance of | ||
the evidence that the actor had sufficient capacity to understand | ||
that the conduct engaged in was wrong at the time the conduct was | ||
engaged in. The prosecution is 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 8. 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 | ||
occurred before that date 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 was committed or conduct occurred before | ||
the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense or | ||
conduct occurred before that date. | ||
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |