HBA-SEB H.B. 1403 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1403 By: Puente Juvenile Justice and Family Issues 4/14/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, the Family Code provides that a child may be placed on probation for any period, except that the probation may not continue on or after the child's 18th birthday. In a determinate case (one that involves a violent or habitual offender) a judge or jury must sentence a child to commitment in the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) with a possible transfer to the institutional division or the pardons and paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. H.B. 1403 authorizes a court or jury to place a child on probation for a period that may continue after the child's 18th birthday, not to exceed 10 years, as an alternative to sentencing the child to commitment in TYC. After the child reaches age 17 but before the child becomes18, the juvenile court will transfer the jurisdiction of the child to an appropriate district court for placement on adult community supervision. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 54.04, Family Code, by amending Subsection (l) and adding Subsection (q), as follows: (l) Authorizes a court to place a child on probation under Subsection (d)(1) (regarding a disposition hearing), or to extend the probation for any period until the child reaches the age of 18, except as provided under Subsection (q). Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes. (q) Authorizes a court or jury to place a child on probation under Subsection (d)(1) for a period that may continue on or after the child's 18th birthday as an alternative to making a disposition under Subsection (d)(3) (regarding the sentencing of a child to commitment in the Texas Youth Commission). Authorizes the court, before the probation sentence ends, to extend the probationary period to continue on or after the child's 18th birthday. Prohibits a sentence of probation ordered under this subsection and any extension of probation ordered under Section 54.05(a) (regarding the modification of a disposition by a juvenile court) from exceeding 10 years. SECTION 2. Amends Subchapter E, Chapter 61, Human Resources Code, by adding Section 61.0795, as follows: Sec. 61.0795. TRANSFER OF VIOLENT AND HABITUAL OFFENDERS PLACED ON PROBATION. (a) Requires a juvenile court that places a child on probation under Section 54.04(d)(1), Family Code, as an alternative to making a disposition under Section 54.04(d)(3), Family Code, to waive its exclusive jurisdiction and transfer a child to an appropriate district court between the child's 17th and 18th birthdays if the probation will continue on or after the child's 18th birthday. (b) Requires a district court that exercises jurisdiction over a child transferred under Subsection (a) to place the child on community supervision under Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure (Community Supervision), for the remainder of the child's probationary period and under conditions consistent with those ordered by the juvenile court. SECTION 3. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 5. Emergency clause.