HBA-JRA C.S.H.B. 821 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 821
By: Tillery
Public Safety
3/26/1999
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, judges in Texas do not have the authority to suspend the
concealed handgun license of a person when issuing a protective order
against them.  As a matter of practice, the Department of Pubic Safety
revokes these licenses when such an order is issued, but the revocation
involves a thirty-day response period and administrative appeals process.
C.S.H.B. 821 authorizes a court or a magistrate to contemporaneously
suspend the concealed handgun license of a person found to have committed
family violence or a person arrested for family violence or stalking for
the duration of the protective order.  The notice and hearing due process
requirement is met during the protective order procedure. 

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 85.022, Family Code, by adding Subsection (d),
to authorize a court, in a protective order, to suspend a license to carry
a concealed handgun issued under Section 411.177, Government Code, held by
a person found to have committed family violence. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 85.042, Family Code, by adding Subsection (e),
as follows: 

(e)  Requires the clerk of the issuing court to send a copy of an original
or modified protective order that suspends a license to carry a concealed
handgun to the appropriate division of the Department of Public Safety
(department) at its Austin headquarters. Requires the department, on
receipt of the order, to record the suspension of the license, report the
suspension to local law enforcement agencies, as appropriate, and to demand
surrender of the suspended license from the license holder. 

SECTION 3.  Amends Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, by amending
Subsection (k) and adding Subsection (l), as follows: 

(k)  Authorizes a magistrate, in an order for emergency protection, to
suspend a license to carry a concealed handgun issued under Section
411.177, Government Code, held by a defendant. 

(l)  Provides that "family," "family violence," and "household" have the
meanings assigned by Chapter 71, rather than Section 71.01, Family Code. 

SECTION 4.  Amends Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding
Article 17.293, as follows: 

Art. 17.293.  DELIVERY OF ORDER FOR EMERGENCY PROTECTION TO OTHER PERSONS.
Requires the magistrate or the clerk of the magistrate's court issuing an
order for emergency protection under Article 17.292 that suspends a license
to carry a concealed handgun to immediately send a copy of the order to the
appropriate division of the  department at its Austin headquarters.
Requires the department to record the suspension, report it to local law
enforcement agencies, and demand surrender of the suspended license from
the license holder. 

SECTION 5.  Amends Section 411.180, Government Code, by adding Subsection
(i), as follows: 

(i)  Provides that this section (Notification of Denial, Revocation, or
Suspension of License; Review) does not apply to a suspension of a license
under Section 85.022, Family Code, or Article 17.292, Code of Criminal
Procedure. 

SECTION 6.  Amends Sections 411.187(a) and (c), Government Code, to
authorize that a license be suspended for the duration of or the period
specified by the protective order issued under Title 4, Family Code, if the
person's license is subject to suspension for committing family violence or
is arrested for an offense involving family violence or an offense under
Section 42.072 (Stalking), Penal Code, and is the subject of an order for
emergency protection issued under Article 17.292, Code of Criminal
Procedure.  Makes conforming changes. 

SECTION 7.  (a)  Provides that, in accordance with Section 311.031(c),
Government Code, which gives effect to a substantive amendment enacted by
the same legislature that codifies the amended statute, the text of Section
411.187, Government Code, as set out in Section 3 of this Act, gives effect
to changes made by Chapter 1261, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1997, which amended Section 13(a) and (c) of Vernon's Annotated
Civil Statutes, Article 4413(29ee) (now this section). 

(b)  Provides that, to the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over
another Act of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, relating to
nonsubstantive additions to or correction in enacted codes. 

SECTION 8.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.
Makes application of Section 85.022, Family Code, and Section 411.187,
Government Code, and Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended
by this Act, prospective. 

SECTION 9.  Emergency clause.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The substitute modifies the original by adding SECTION 3, which amends
Article 17.292 (Magistrate's Order for Emergency Protection), Code of
Criminal Procedure, to authorize a magistrate, in an order for emergency
protection, to suspend a license to carry a concealed handgun held by a
defendant.   Provides that "family," "family violence," and "household"
have the meanings assigned by Chapter 71, rather than Section 71.01, Family
Code. 

The substitute modifies the original by adding SECTION 4, which amends
Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding Article 17.293, to set
forth filing procedures for an order for emergency protection under Article
17.292 that suspends a license to carry a concealed handgun. 

The substitute modifies the original by adding SECTION 5, which amends
Section 411.180, Government Code, to provide that this section
(Notification of Denial, Revocation, or Suspension of License;  Review)
does not apply to a suspension of a license under Section 85.022
(Requirements of Order to Person Who Committed Family Violence), Family
Code, or Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure. 

The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 6, which amends Sections
411.187(a) and (c), Government Code, to authorize that a license be
suspended for the duration of or the period specified by the protective
order issued under Title 4, Family Code, if the person's license is subject
to suspension for committing family violence for an offense under Section
42.072 (Stalking), Penal Code, and is the subject of an order for emergency
protection issued under Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure. 
 
Redesignates proposed SECTIONS 3-6 to SECTIONS 6-9 and makes conforming
changes.