Bill Text: TX SB1698 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to the eligibility of certain juvenile offenders to be transferred to criminal court.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-23 - Committee report printed and distributed [SB1698 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SB1698-Comm_Sub.html
By: Whitmire | S.B. No. 1698 | |
(In the Senate - Filed March 6, 2019; March 14, 2019, read | ||
first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice; | ||
April 23, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable Committee | ||
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 23, 2019, | ||
sent to printer.) | ||
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1698 | By: Perry |
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relating to the eligibility of certain juvenile offenders to be | ||
transferred to criminal court. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Sections 54.02(a) and (j), Family Code, are | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) The juvenile court may waive its exclusive original | ||
jurisdiction and transfer a child to the appropriate district court | ||
or criminal district court for criminal proceedings if: | ||
(1) the child is alleged to have violated a penal law | ||
of the grade of felony; | ||
(2) the child was: | ||
(A) 14 years of age or older at the time the child | ||
[ |
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capital felony, an aggravated controlled substance felony, or a | ||
felony of the first degree, and no adjudication hearing has been | ||
conducted concerning that offense; or | ||
(B) 15 years of age or older at the time the child | ||
is alleged to have committed the offense, if the offense is a felony | ||
of the second or third degree [ |
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adjudication hearing has been conducted concerning that offense; | ||
and | ||
(3) after a full investigation and a hearing, the | ||
juvenile court determines that there is probable cause to believe | ||
that the child before the court committed the offense alleged and | ||
that because of the seriousness of the offense alleged or the | ||
background of the child the welfare of the community requires | ||
criminal proceedings. | ||
(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) 10 years of age or older and under 17 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 [ |
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(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 2. This Act applies only to conduct that occurs on | ||
or after the effective date of this Act. Conduct that occurs before | ||
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on | ||
the date the conduct occurred, and the former law is continued in | ||
effect for that purpose. For the purposes of this section, conduct | ||
occurred before the effective date of this Act if any element of the | ||
conduct occurred before that date. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
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