HBA-EDN, CBW H.B. 587 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 587 By: Thompson Judicial Affairs 7/18/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Hate crimes are acts committed primarily because of the actor's bias or prejudice against the victim. Even though hate crimes are not always reported and some counties do not keep such statistics, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety report, "Crime in Texas 1997: The Texas Crime Report," the total number of hate crime incidents in 1997 was 331. These incidents involved 361 victims, 420 offenders, and resulted in a total of 360 offenses. The largest percentage of hate crimes were racially motivated in nature. House Bill 587 modifies provisions relating to the investigation and prosecution of an offense motivated by bias or prejudice. 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 House Bill 587 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require a judge to make an affirmative finding of fact and enter the finding in the judgment of the case if the judge or jury, whichever is the trier of fact, at the guilt or innocence phase of the trial determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally selected the person against whom the offense was committed or intentionally selected property damaged or affected as a result of the offense because of the defendant's bias or prejudice against a group identified by race, color, disability, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, gender, or sexual preference. The bill authorizes the sentencing judge, as a condition of punishment, to require attendance in an educational program to further tolerance and acceptance of others (SECTION 1.02, Art. 42.014). In addition to performing existing required duties, the bill requires a clerk of a district or county court in which an affirmative finding is requested to report that request to the Texas Judicial Council (TJC), along with a statement as to whether the request was granted by the court and, if so, whether the affirmative finding was entered in the judgment in the case. The bill requires the clerk to make the report not later than the 30th day after the date the judgment is entered in the case (SECTION 4.01, Art. 2.211). The bill amends the Government Code to include a summary of such information in the report that TJC is required to file with the governor and the Texas Supreme Court (SECTION 4.02, Sec. 71.034). The bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize a person to request a protective order when a defendant appears at any proceeding in a constitutional county court, statutory county court, or district court that is related to an alleged offense that is committed against the person or the person's property because of bias or prejudice. The bill requires the court to render a protective order if, in lieu of the finding that family violence occurred and is likely to occur in the future, the court finds that probable cause exists to believe that an offense against the person or the person's property occurred because of the defendant's bias or prejudice and that the nature of the scheme or the defendant's course of conduct indicates that the defendant is likely to engage in the future in such conduct. The bill sets forth procedures for the enforcement of such a protective order and requires a law enforcement agency to enter information regarding the protective order into the statewide law enforcement information system maintained by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) not later than 10 days after the receipt of the order from the clerk of the court (SECTION 3.01, Art. 6.08). The bill amends the Penal Code to set forth the conditions under which a person violates a protective order prohibiting an offense caused by bias or prejudice. The bill sets forth provisions with regard to prosecuting such an offense, prohibiting an arrest of a person protected by that order, and setting the offense category for violating the protective order (SECTION 3.02, Sec. 25.071). The bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize the criminal justice division of the governor's office to distribute money appropriated by the legislature to a county for the extraordinary prosecution costs associated with the investigation or prosecution of an offense alleged to have been committed because of bias or prejudice (SECTION 2.01, Art. 104.004). H.B. 587 amends the Penal Code to provide that the enhanced penalties for an offense committed because of bias or prejudice do not apply to the trial of an offense of injury to a disabled individual if the affirmative finding in the case shows that the defendant intentionally selected the victim because the victim was disabled. The bill authorizes the attorney general, on the request of a prosecuting attorney, to assist the prosecuting attorney in the investigation or prosecution of an offense committed because of bias or prejudice. The bill requires the attorney general to designate one individual to assist in the prosecution of criminal cases to coordinate responses to such requests (SECTION 1.01, Sec. 12.47). H.B. 587 amends the Education Code to require the attorney general, in cooperation with the Texas Education Agency (TEA), to develop a program that provides instruction about state laws on hate crimes at appropriate grade levels, to students, and to the community at large. The bill requires TEA to make such a program available to a school on request (SECTION 6.01, Sec. 29.903). H.B. 587 amends the Government Code to require the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to provide training to prosecuting attorneys relating to the use of state laws for enhancing punishment on a finding that an offense was committed because of the defendant's bias or prejudice (SECTION 7.01, Sec. 22.111). The bill requires the court of criminal appeals to make such training available to prosecuting attorneys not later than January 1, 2002 (SECTION 7.02). EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. Provisions relating to instruction about state laws on hate crimes apply beginning with the 2001-2002 school year.