HBA-CMT C.S.H.B. 2987 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2987 By: Deshotel Public Safety 3/30/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Sex offender registration has become more expansive over the past few sessions of the Texas legislature. Since the Sex Offender Registration Program began, additional offenses continue to be added to the list of offenses that require registration. Until the last legislative session, judges could exempt a defendant from registration after a hearing was held on the need for registration. In the last session, the legislature removed the discretionary power of judges and made all sex offender registration mandatory. This approach requires all defendants to register and comply with the public notice requirements, even youthful adult offenders that participated in consensual sex that would not be an offense except for the age of the participants. Under current Texas law, if a person has sex with a person younger than 17 years of age that person has committed an offense that requires registration if convicted. Cases like this may meet the requirements for an offense that would require registration, but it has been argued that persons involved in consensual sex are not offenders that should require registration as sex offenders. C.S.H.B. 2987 returns discretionary power to judges in such cases. 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. 2987 amends the Criminal Procedure and Family codes relating to exemption from sex offender registration for certain juvenile and adult offenders. The bill requires a judge in the trial or disposition of an offense involving sexual assault, sexual performance by a child, aggravated sexual assault, or indecency with a child to make an affirmative finding of fact and enter the affirmative finding in the judgement in the case if the judge determines that at the time of the offense, the defendant was younger than 20 years of age and the victim was at least 13 years of age and the conviction is based solely on the ages of the defendant and the victim or intended victim at the time of the offense. The bill provides that if a judge places a defendant on community supervision who is charged with a offense involving sexual assault, sexual performance by a child, aggravated sexual assault, or indecency with a child, the judge is required to make an affirmative finding of fact and file a statement of that affirmative finding with the papers in the case if the sole purpose for the charge was the defendant's and victim's age. The bill provides that, if eligible, a person required to register as a sex offender is authorized to petition the court having jurisdiction over the case at any time after the person's sentencing or disposition hearing or after the person is placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for an order exempting the person from registration. The bill sets forth eligibility requirements for a person to be able to petition to the court for a sex offender registration exemption and establishes procedures designed to make application of the exemption to eligible persons retroactive. After a hearing on the petition, the court is authorized to issue an order exempting the person from registration if it appears by a preponderance of the evidence that the exemption does not threaten public safety, and that the person's conduct did not occur without the consent of the victim or intended victim. An order exempting a person from registration does not expire, but the court is required to withdraw the order if the person receives a reportable conviction or adjudication after the order is issued. The provisions of the bill allowing a court to exempt a person from registration as a sex offender at any time after a disposition hearing, take effect only if House Bill 1118 takes effect on or before September 1, 2001. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2987 modifies the original bill by adding aggravated sexual assault to the list of offenses for which a judge is required to enter an affirmative finding for an eligible offender. The substitute authorizes an eligible person who is placed on deferred adjudication community supervision, to petition the court having jurisdiction over the case for an exemption from registration as a sex offender. The substitute adds the additional condition that the person's conduct must not have occurred without consent of the victim or intended victim in order for the court to be able to issue an order exempting the person from registration as a sex offender. The substitute also adds provisions specifying the conditions on which exempting a person from registration after a disposition hearing, is allowed.