HBA-AMW H.B. 851 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 851 By: Williams Criminal Jurisprudence 3/22/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, the statute of limitations for kidnapping, injury to a child, injury to an elderly person, injury to a disabled person, and abandoning or endangering a child is three years. The current time limit on prosecuting these crimes is a potential problem since victims of these offenses, with the exception of kidnapping, sometimes have a difficult time reporting the crime and the offenders in these cases are often family members who may be able to cover up their crimes and persuade their victims not to report the crime. House Bill 851 increases from three years to five years the statute of limitations for these offenses. 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 House Bill 851 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to increase from three years to five years from the date of the commission of the offense the statute of limitations for the presentation of an indictment for kidnapping, injury to a child, injury to an elderly individual, injury to a disabled individual, or abandoning or endangering a child. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.