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4 Document(s) [ Subject: Shootings ]

Committee: House Youth Health and Safety, Select
Title: Interim Report
Subjects: Child Protective Services | Children's health care | Children's mental health | Coronavirus | Emergency communications | Emergency management | Gun safety | Inmate rehabilitation | Juvenile justice system | Mental health services | School discipline | School safety | Shootings | Youthful offenders |
Library Call Number:
Session: 87th R.S. (2021)
Online version: View report [56 pages  File size: 2,708 kb]
Charges: This report should address the charges below.
1. Provide a cross-jurisdictional forum for the examination and consideration of issues that broadly affect the health, safety, and rights of Texas youth.
2. Improve the ability of federal, state, and local governmental entities to address the needs of Texas youth through, among other things, expanded coordination between all programs and systems that serve youth and their families, including child protective services, mental health services, educational institutions, and the juvenile justice system.
3. Study the allocation and use of state resources to preventative and rehabilitative services that address the primary challenges facing Texas youth placed in the juvenile justice system, including the redirection of those resources as necessary to ensure effectiveness and efficiency.
4. Study the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health needs of Texas youth and identification of effective treatment strategies.
5. Study the expansion of prevention efforts and the strengthening of service systems to permit the behavioral health challenges faced by Texas youth to be addressed closer to their homes, including efforts and systems that permit youth to remain in their classrooms and stay out of institutionalized healthcare and juvenile justice systems.
6. Study programs, services, and governmental action focused on the rehabilitation of youthful offenders, including considerations related to developmental factors that impact a youth's entry into the justice system.
7. Study the implementation and impact of SB 11, 86th R.S. and any other pertinent laws. Identify additional policies, protocols and strategies that will help create a safer environment in schools and local communities.
8. Examine strategies to prevent acts of mass violence, including measures to enhance firearm safety in Texas.
9. Evaluate the preparedness of and coordination between state and local agencies, nongovernmental entities, and law enforcement for the prevention of and response to mass violence, including the content and efficacy of active shooter response training.
10. Examine the role of online communications in mass violence scenarios and identify technological resources and solutions for detecting, mitigating, and reporting threats.
11. Study the needs of the state related to mental health professionals, educators, school administrators, and related professionals overseeing youth mental health programs and the delivery of those mental health services.
Supporting documents
Committee: House Youth Health and Safety, Select
Title: Committee meeting handouts and testimony, August 8, 2022
Library Call Number:
Session: 87th R.S. (2021)
Online version: View document [169 pages  File size: 26,497 kb]
Committee: House Culture, Recreation, and Tourism
Title: Interim Report
Subjects: Aquaculture | Battleship Texas | Gun safety | Historic preservation | Historical Commission, Texas | Historical monuments | Hunting | Oysters | Parks and Wildlife, Texas Department of | Shootings | Tax incentives |
Library Call Number: L1836.86 R245
Session: 86th R.S. (2019)
Online version: View report [27 pages  File size: 1,295 kb]
Charges: This report should address the charges below.
1. Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee's jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 86th Legislature. Conduct active oversight of all associated rulemaking and other governmental actions taken to ensure intended legislative outcome of all legislation, including the following:
  • HB 1300 and HB 2321, which relate to the regulation of oyster harvesting and to cultivated oyster mariculture. Monitor the implementation of the cultivated oyster mariculture program, the implementation of increased penalties related to the regulation of oyster harvesting, and the effectiveness of these state laws as related to the protection, conservation, and sustainability of oysters in Texas coastal waters.
  • HB 1422, which is the Texas Historical Commission (THC) sunset legislation. Monitor the implementation and transfer of certain historical sites from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to the THC, including any additional land acquired by the TPWD and the appropriate coordination with local entities.
  • SB 1511, which requires the TPWD to contract with a nonprofit organization for the operation and maintenance of the Battleship "Texas." Monitor the efforts to restore the Battleship "Texas" consistent with state law and historic preservation guidelines.
2. Evaluate the status of the historical marker application process and the production of cast metal historical markers in the state as overseen by the THC. Examine options for future state historical markers, including technology such as laser etching and durable materials other than metal.
3. Study the effectiveness of hunter education courses with regard to hunters and firearm safety in the state. Explore additional firearm safety resources and their potential use by the TPWD to reduce accidental shootings.
4. Review the effectiveness of the State Historic Preservation Tax Credit on preserving historic structures and revitalizing Texas communities since the tax credit became effective.
5. Monitor the State Auditor's review of agencies and programs under the Committee's jurisdiction. The Chair shall seek input and periodic briefings on completed audits for the 2019 and 2020 fiscal years and bring forth pertinent issues for full committee consideration.
Committee: House Criminal Jurisprudence
Title: Interim Report
Subjects: Bail | Capital punishment | Capital punishment of mentally ill inmates | Capital punishment of mentally disabled inmates | Court Administration, Texas Office of | Court costs and fees | Courts | Criminal justice | Emergency management | Fines | Gun control | Guns | Hurricane Harvey | Jury instructions | Legal malpractice | Marijuana | Mentally ill persons | Penalties and sentences (Criminal justice) | Prosecutorial misconduct | Risk-based decision-making | School safety | School violence | Sex crimes | Shootings | State jail system |
Library Call Number: L1836.85 C868h
Session: 85th R.S. (2017)
Online version: View report [103 pages]
Charges: This report should address the charges below.
1. Evaluate the impact of Hurricane Harvey on the Texas criminal justice system, including its effect on the speed of criminal trials and litigation, criminal courts, district attorneys' ability to prosecute, and attorneys' ability to provide proper defense. Recommend any changes that could improve operational stability of state criminal justice institutions following a natural disaster and changes that would allow for a more effective response.
2. Assess developments in medical science and legal standards related to the imposition of the death penalty on defendants with serious mental illness or intellectual and developmental disabilities. Review statutorily prescribed jury instructions used during capital sentencing.
3. Study current practices for the enforcement of criminal laws against low-level possession of marijuana. Examine the use of alternative punishments and improvements to criminal enforcement mechanisms and community supervision.
4. Examine instances of prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of defense counsel. Review systemic and structural issues affecting the resolution of criminal cases.
5. Examine the legal framework surrounding sexual assault prosecutions, including statutory definitions, certain age-based offenses, and ongoing developments in evidence collection and processing.
6. Review the Texas state jail system, including its original intent, sentencing guidelines, effectiveness, and recidivism rates. Make recommendations for changes in the state jail system that will improve outcomes. (Joint charge with the House Committee on Corrections)
7. Monitor the work of the Office of Court Administration on pre-trial risk assessment tools for the Texas Judiciary, and study the use of risk assessment tools at various stages in the criminal justice process. Monitor litigation on Harris County pretrial bond practices. Monitor the implementation of the legislation passed by the 85th Legislature regarding the imposition of fines, fees, and court costs in criminal courts.
8. Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee’s jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 85th Legislature.
9. Review the applicable portions of the state's penal laws and make legislative recommendations regarding whether existing protective order laws are sufficient or could be amended to include 'red flag' or mental health protective orders or whether 'red flag' or mental health protective orders should be independently created to allow law enforcement, a family member, a school employee, or a district attorney to file a petition seeking removal of firearms from a potentially dangerous person and providing for mental health treatment for the potentially dangerous person, while preserving the fundamental rights of the Second Amendment and ensuring due process.
10. Examine current statutes designed to protect minors from accessing firearms without proper supervision and make recommendations to ensure responsible and safe firearm storage, including enhancing the penalty to a felony when unauthorized access results in death or bodily injury.

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