HBA-SEB C.S.H.B. 3355 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 3355
By: Staples
Juvenile Justice and Family Issues
4/28/1999
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law requires a law enforcement officer who takes a child into
custody to transport the child to the appropriate detention facility if the
child is not released.  If the detention facility is located in another
county, however, the sheriff of the county where the child was taken into
custody must transport the child. This transportation requirement may be a
burden for a sheriff's department with few resources and a limited
workforce.  C.S.H.B. 3355 requires the law enforcement officer who takes
the child into custody to transport the child unless the commissioners
court of the county authorizes the sheriff to do so. 

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 Sections 52.026(b), Family Code, to require a law
enforcement officer who takes a child into custody, rather than the
sheriff, to transport the child to the appropriate juvenile detention
facility if the facility is located outside the county in which the child
is taken into custody, unless the child is detained in a secure detention
facility or is released to a parent, guardian, or custodian of the child.
Requires the sheriff to transport the child if authorized by the
commissioners court of the county. 

SECTION 2.  Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 3.Emergency clause.
  Effective date: upon passage.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 1 by reinstating Section
52.026(b), Family Code, which would have been deleted in the original.  The
substitute then amends the section to require a law enforcement officer who
takes a child into custody, rather than the sheriff, to transport the child
to the appropriate juvenile detention facility if the facility is located
outside the county in which the child is taken into custody.  The
substitute requires the sheriff to transport the child if so authorized by
the commissioners court of the county. The original would have deleted the
sheriff's duty to transport a child to such a juvenile detention facility
altogether.