84R1914 ADM-F
	By: West	S.B. No. 741

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to criminal procedures related to certain offenses
	committed by a student on property under control of a school
	district.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 37.141(2), Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(2)  "School offense" means an offense committed by a
	child enrolled in a public school that is a Class C misdemeanor
	other than a traffic offense and that is committed on property under
	the control and jurisdiction of a school district, including a
	public school campus and the school grounds on which a public school
	is located, regardless of whether the offense is committed during
	the school year or during the summer session.
	SECTION 2.  Section 37.144(a), Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(a)  A school district [that commissions peace officers
	under Section 37.081] may develop a system of graduated sanctions
	that the school district may require to be imposed on a child before
	a complaint is filed under Section 37.145 against the child for a
	school offense that is an offense [under Section 37.124 or 37.126
	or] under Section 42.01(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5), Penal
	Code.  A system adopted under this section must include multiple
	graduated sanctions.  The system may require:
	(1)  a warning letter to be issued to the child and the
	child's parent or guardian that specifically states the child's
	alleged school offense and explains the consequences if the child
	engages in additional misconduct;
	(2)  a behavior contract with the child that must be
	signed by the child, the child's parent or guardian, and an employee
	of the school and that includes a specific description of the
	behavior that is required or prohibited for the child and the
	penalties for additional alleged school offenses, including
	additional disciplinary action or the filing of a complaint in a
	criminal court;
	(3)  the performance of school-based community service
	by the child; and
	(4)  the referral of the child to counseling,
	community-based services, or other in-school or out-of-school
	services aimed at addressing the child's behavioral problems.
	SECTION 3.  Section 37.146, Education Code, is amended by
	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
	follows:
	(a)  A complaint alleging the commission of a school offense
	must, in addition to the requirements imposed by Article 45.019,
	Code of Criminal Procedure:
	(1)  be sworn to by a person who has personal knowledge
	of the underlying facts giving rise to probable cause to believe
	that an offense has been committed; [and]
	(2)  be accompanied by a statement from a school
	employee stating:
	(A)  whether the child is eligible for or receives
	special services under Subchapter A, Chapter 29; and
	(B)  the graduated sanctions, if required under
	Section 37.144, that were imposed on the child before the complaint
	was filed; and
	(3)  be accompanied by a statement by a victim of the
	alleged conduct, if any.
	(c)  A court shall dismiss a complaint made by a school
	district that is not made in compliance with Subsection (a).
	SECTION 4.  Section 8.07(e), Penal Code, is amended to read
	as follows:
	(e)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution of [A person
	who is at least 10 years of age but younger than 15 years of age is
	presumed incapable of committing] an offense described by
	Subsection (a)(4) or (5), other than an offense under a juvenile
	curfew ordinance or order, that the actor was at least 10 years of
	age but younger than 15 years of age at the time of the alleged
	offense and did not have sufficient capacity to understand that the
	conduct engaged in was wrong at the time the conduct was engaged
	in. [This presumption may be refuted if the prosecution proves to
	the court by a preponderance of the evidence that the actor had
	sufficient capacity to understand that the conduct engaged in was
	wrong at the time the conduct was engaged in.] The prosecution is
	not required to prove that the actor at the time of engaging in the
	conduct knew that the act was a criminal offense or knew the legal
	consequences of the offense.
	SECTION 5.  Articles 45.058(i) and (j), Code of Criminal
	Procedure, are repealed.
	SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
	an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.  An
	offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered
	by the law in effect at the time the offense was committed, and the
	former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For the
	purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was
	committed before that date.
	SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.