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  H.B. No. 2053
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the protection of certain children who may be subject to
  child abuse or neglect through the operation of the child safety
  check alert list and training for law enforcement officers relating
  to the child safety check alert list.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 261.301, Family Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
         (i)  If at any time during an investigation of a report of
  child abuse or neglect to which the department has assigned the
  highest priority the department is unable to locate the child who is
  the subject of the report of abuse or neglect or the child's family,
  the department shall notify the Department of Public Safety that
  the location of the child and the child's family is unknown. If the
  Department of Public Safety locates the child and the child's
  family, the Department of Public Safety shall notify the department
  of the location of the child and the child's family.
         SECTION 2.  Section 261.3022, Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 261.3022.  CHILD SAFETY CHECK ALERT LIST. (a) The 
  [Subject to the availability of funds, the] Department of Public
  Safety of the State of Texas shall maintain [create] a child safety
  check alert list as part of the Texas Crime Information Center to
  help locate a child or the child's family for purposes of:
               (1)  investigating a report of child abuse or neglect;
               (2)  providing protective services to a family
  receiving family-based support services; or
               (3)  providing protective services to the family of a
  child in the managing conservatorship of the department.
         (b)  If [the child safety check alert list is established
  and] the department is unable to locate a child or the child's
  family for a purpose described by Subsection (a) after the
  department has attempted to locate the child for not more than 20
  days, the department shall notify the Texas Department of Public
  Safety that the department is unable to locate the child or the
  child's family. The notice must include the information required
  by Subsections (c)(1)-(10).
         (c)  On receipt of the notice from the department, the Texas
  Department of Public Safety shall [purposes of investigating a
  report of child abuse or neglect, after the department has
  exhausted all means available to the department for locating the
  family, the department may seek assistance under this section from
  the appropriate county attorney, district attorney, or criminal
  district attorney with responsibility for representing the
  department as provided by Section 264.009.
         [(c)     If the department requests assistance, the county
  attorney, district attorney, or criminal district attorney, as
  applicable, may file an application with the court requesting the
  issuance of an ex parte order requiring the Texas Crime Information
  Center to place the members of the family the department is
  attempting to locate on a child safety check alert list. The
  application must include a summary of:
               [(1)     the report of child abuse or neglect the
  department is attempting to investigate; and
               [(2)  the department's efforts to locate the family.
         [(d)     If the court determines after a hearing that the
  department has exhausted all means available to the department for
  locating the family, the court shall approve the application and
  order the appropriate law enforcement agency to] notify the Texas
  Crime Information Center to place the child and the child's family
  on a child safety check alert list. The alert list must include the
  following information if known or readily available:
               (1)  the name, sex, race, date of birth, any known
  identifying numbers, including social security number and driver's
  license number, and personal descriptions of the family member
  alleged to have abused or neglected a child according to the report
  the department is attempting to investigate;
               (2)  the name, sex, race, date of birth, any known
  identifying numbers, including social security number and driver's
  license number, and personal descriptions of any parent, managing
  conservator, or guardian of the child who cannot be located for the
  purposes described by Subsection (a);
               (3)  the name, sex, race, date of birth, any known
  identifying numbers, including social security number and driver's
  license number, and personal descriptions of the child who is the
  subject of the report or is receiving services described by
  Subsection (a)(2) or (3);
               (4)  if applicable, [(3)] a code identifying the type
  of child abuse or neglect alleged or determined to have been
  committed against the child;
               (5) [(4)]  the family's last known address; [and]
               (6)  any known description of the motor vehicle,
  including the vehicle's make, color, style of body, model year, and
  vehicle identification number, in which the child is suspected to
  be transported;
               (7)  the case number assigned by the department;
               (8)  the department's dedicated law-enforcement
  telephone number for statewide intake;
               (9)  the date and time when and the location where the
  child was last seen; and
               (10)  any other information required [(5) the minimum
  criteria] for an entry as established by the center.
         SECTION 3.  Section 261.3023, Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 261.3023.  LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE TO CHILD SAFETY
  CHECK ALERT. [(a)] If a law enforcement officer encounters a child
  or other person listed on the Texas Crime Information Center's
  child safety check alert list, the law enforcement officer shall
  follow the procedures described by Article 2.272, Code of Criminal
  Procedure [who is alleged to have abused or neglected a child, or
  encounters a child listed on the alert list who is the subject of a
  report of child abuse or neglect the department is attempting to
  investigate, the officer shall request information from the person
  or the child regarding the child's well-being and current
  residence.
         [(b)     If the law enforcement officer determines that the
  circumstances described by Section 262.104 exist, the officer may
  take possession of the child without a court order as authorized by
  that section if the officer is able to locate the child. If the
  circumstances described by Section 262.104 do not exist, the
  officer shall obtain the child's current address and any other
  relevant information and report that information to the
  department].
         SECTION 4.  Section 261.3024, Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 261.3024.  REMOVAL FROM CHILD SAFETY CHECK ALERT LIST.
  (a)  A law enforcement officer who locates a child listed on the
  Texas Crime Information Center's child safety check alert list [who
  is the subject of a report of child abuse or neglect the department
  is attempting to investigate and who reports the child's current
  address and other relevant information to the department under
  Section 261.3023] shall report [to the Texas Crime Information
  Center] that the child has been located in the manner prescribed by
  Article 2.272, Code of Criminal Procedure.
         (b)  If the department locates a child who has been placed on
  the child safety check alert list established under Section
  261.3022 [described by Subsection (a)] through a means other than
  information reported to the department by a law enforcement officer
  under Article 2.272, Code of Criminal Procedure [Subsection (a)],
  the department shall report to the Texas Crime Information Center
  that the child has been located.
         (c)  On receipt of notice [under this section] that a child
  has been located, the Texas Crime Information Center shall remove
  the child and the child's family from the child safety check alert
  list.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter D, Chapter 261, Family Code, is
  amended by adding Section 261.3025 to read as follows:
         Sec. 261.3025.  CHILD SAFETY CHECK ALERT LIST PROGRESS
  REPORT. (a) Not later than February 1 of each year, the Department
  of Public Safety, with the assistance of the department, shall
  prepare and submit a report on the use of the Texas Crime
  Information Center's child safety check alert list to the standing
  committees of the senate and the house of representatives with
  primary jurisdiction over child protective services.
         (b)  The report must include the following information for
  the preceding calendar year:
               (1)  the number of law enforcement officers who
  completed the training program established under Section 1701.262,
  Occupations Code;
               (2)  the number of children who have been placed on the
  child safety check alert list and the number of those children who
  have been located; and
               (3)  the number of families who have been placed on the
  child safety check alert list and the number of those families who
  have been located.
         (c)  This section expires February 2, 2021.
         SECTION 6.  Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Article 2.272 to read as follows:
         Art. 2.272.  LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE TO CHILD SAFETY CHECK
  ALERT. (a) If a peace officer locates a child or other person
  listed on the Texas Crime Information Center's child safety check
  alert list established under Section 261.3022, Family Code, the
  officer shall:
               (1)  immediately contact the Department of Family and
  Protective Services on the department's dedicated law-enforcement
  telephone number for statewide intake;
               (2)  request information from the department regarding
  the circumstances of the case involving the child or other person;
  and
               (3)  request information from the child and the other
  person regarding the child's safety, well-being, and current
  residence.
         (b)  The peace officer may temporarily detain the child or
  other person to ensure the safety and well-being of the child.
         (c)  If the peace officer determines that the circumstances
  described by Section 262.104, Family Code, exist, the officer may
  take temporary possession of the child without a court order as
  provided by Section 262.104, Family Code. If the peace officer does
  not take temporary possession of the child, the officer shall
  obtain the child's current address and any other relevant
  information and report that information to the Department of Family
  and Protective Services.
         (d)  A peace officer who locates a child or other person
  listed on the Texas Crime Information Center's child safety check
  alert list and who reports the child's or other person's current
  address and other relevant information to the Department of Family
  and Protective Services shall report to the Texas Crime Information
  Center that the child or other person has been located and to whom
  the child was released, as applicable.
         SECTION 7.  Subchapter F, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
  amended by adding Section 1701.262 to read as follows:
         Sec. 1701.262.  TRAINING PROGRAM RELATING TO CHILD SAFETY
  CHECK ALERT LIST. (a) The commission by rule shall establish an
  education and training program on the Texas Crime Information
  Center's child safety check alert list. The program must include
  instruction relating to:
               (1)  the procedures for placing a child or other person
  on the child safety check alert list;
               (2)  the manner in which an officer should interact
  with a child or other person on the child safety check alert list
  whom the officer locates; and
               (3)  the procedures for removing a child or other
  person from the child safety check alert list.
         (b)  The commission shall make the training program
  available to employees in the child protective services division of
  the Department of Family and Protective Services, including
  caseworkers, supervisors, and special investigators.
         SECTION 8.  Section 1701.402, Occupations Code, is amended
  by adding Subsection (m) to read as follows:
         (m)  As a requirement for an intermediate or advanced
  proficiency certificate issued by the commission on or after
  January 1, 2016, an officer must complete an education and training
  program on the Texas Crime Information Center's child safety check
  alert list established by the commission under Section 1701.262.
         SECTION 9.  (a) Except as provided by this section, this Act
  takes effect September 1, 2015.
         (b)  Section 261.3025, Family Code, as added by this Act,
  takes effect March 1, 2016.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2053 was passed by the House on April
  28, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, 3 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 2053 on May 27, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 136, Nays 2,
  2 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2053 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 24, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor