HBA-AMW H.B. 851 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 851
By: Williams
Criminal Jurisprudence
3/22/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, the statute of limitations for kidnapping, injury to a child,
injury to an elderly person, injury to a disabled person, and abandoning or
endangering a child is three years.  The current time limit on prosecuting
these crimes is a potential problem since victims of these offenses, with
the exception of kidnapping, sometimes have a difficult time reporting the
crime and the offenders in these cases are often family members who may be
able to cover up their crimes and persuade their victims not to report the
crime.   House Bill 851 increases from three years to five years the
statute of limitations for these offenses.  
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 851 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to increase from three
years to five years from the date of the commission of the offense the
statute of limitations for the presentation of an indictment for
kidnapping, injury to a child, injury to an elderly individual, injury to a
disabled individual, or abandoning or endangering a child. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.