HBA-MSH C.S.H.B. 2113 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2113
By: Allen
Public Safety
3/30/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, inmates of a penal institution and juveniles committed
to the Texas Youth Commission who are convicted of certain offenses are
required to submit a blood sample or other specimen for the purposes of
creating a DNA record, if so ordered by the court. Sex offenders are also
subject to a series of registration requirements which include publishing
notification of their release or change of address in a newspaper. In
addition, Texas has agreements with other states that have sex offender
registration programs in order to register sex offenders convicted in other
states who choose to reside in Texas. Current law does not extend this
provision to cover those persons required to register under federal or
military law. C.S.H.B. 2113 expands DNA collection to those sex offenders
subject to release and extends the sex offender registration program to
those required to register under federal of military law.  

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. 2113 amends the Criminal Procedure, Family, Government, and Human
Resources codes to require certain sex offenders to submit specimens for
the creation of a DNA record. The bill requires a judge granting community
supervision to a defendant required to register as a sex offender (sex
offender) to require the defendant to submit a blood sample or other
specimen (specimen) to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) for the
purpose of creating a DNA record of the defendant (Art. 42.12, Code of
Criminal Procedure). If a jury or court makes a disposition in which a
child is placed on probation for an offense for which the child is required
to register as a sex offender, the bill provides that the court shall
require the child to submit a specimen for the creation of a DNA record
(Sec. 54.0405, Family Code). The bill requires as a condition of parole or
mandatory supervision that an inmate to be released submit a specimen for
the purpose of creating a DNA record (Sec. 508.186, Government Code).
Before releasing a child adjudicated for a sexual offense requiring sex
offender registration, the bill requires the Texas Youth Commission to
require the child to submit a body tissue specimen for a DNA record. (Sec.
61.0813, Human Resources Code). 

The bill applies statutes relating to the registration of sex offenders to
those persons required to register as a sex offender under federal law or
the Uniform Code of Military Justice (Art. 62.021, Code of Criminal
Procedure). The bill provides that for the purposes of existing law
governing the time periods during which a person subject to registration as
a sex offender for two or more convictions or deferred adjudications of a
sexual offense is required to verify registration information with a local
law enforcement authority, a person receives multiple convictions or orders
of deferred adjudication regardless of whether the judgments or orders are
entered on different dates or the offenses for which the person was
convicted or placed on deferred adjudication arose out of different
criminal transactions (Art. 62.06, Code of Criminal Procedure). The bill
provides that DPS is responsible for determining for the purposes of the
sex offender registration program whether an offense under the laws of
another state, federal law, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice
contains elements that are substantially similar to the elements of an
offense under the law of this  state (Art. 62.0101, Code of Criminal
Procedure). 

The bill requires a local law enforcement authority that is required to
publish notice of a sex offender's release or change of address to collect
the cost of publication from the sex offender for obtaining publication
(Arts. 62.03 and 62.04, Code of Criminal Procedure). The registration
duties imposed on a sex offender are terminated only when the conviction is
set aside on appeal or the conviction is pardoned, and not while the pardon
or appeal is pending (Arts. 62.11 and 62.12, Code of Criminal Procedure).  

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001. 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 2113 differs from the original by adding provisions relating to
the collection of blood samples or other specimens from sex offenders for
the purpose of creating a DNA record, including inmates and juveniles (Art,
42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, Sec. 54.0405, Family Code, Secs.
411.128, 411.150, and 508.186, Government Code).  The substitute requires a
local law enforcement authority that is required to publish notice of a sex
offender's release or change of address to collect the cost of publication
from the sex offender for obtaining publication (Art. 62.03, Code of
Criminal Procedure).  The substitute provides that registration duties
imposed on a sex offender are terminated only when the conviction is set
aside on appeal or the conviction is pardoned, and not while the pardon or
appeal is pending (Arts. 62.11 and 62.12, Code of Criminal Procedure).