HBA-LJP C.S.H.B. 599 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 599 By: Goodman Criminal Jurisprudence 3/18/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law prohibits the possession of a firearm by an adult who has been convicted of a felony, but does not extend this prohibition to juveniles. C.S.H.B. 599 provides that a juvenile who is adjudicated as having engaged in felony delinquent conduct commits an offense if the person possesses a firearm. 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. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 599 amends the Penal Code to provide that a person who is adjudicated by a juvenile court for having engaged in delinquent conduct that is a felony and for which a juvenile court petition has been approved by the grand jury commits an offense if the person possesses a firearm: _after the adjudication and before the fifth anniversary of the person's discharge from service of sentence or release, whichever date is later, from juvenile or adult probation, supervision, or parole; or _at any location other than the premises at which the person lives any time during the period of ten years after the adjudication and before the appropriate fifth anniversary of release or discharge. The bill also provides that the juvenile court petition follow the provisions set forth for a violent or habitual offender. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 599 modifies the original by creating an additional subsection in the bill to more clearly distinguish between the offenses of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person who has been convicted of a felony and a person who has been adjudicated by a juvenile court for certain delinquent behavior. The substitute also sets forth the time period for which it is unlawful for the person who has been adjudicated by the juvenile court to possess a firearm.