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AN ACT
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relating to the prosecution for the offense of injury to a child, |
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elderly individual, or disabled individual. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Sections 22.04(a-1) and (i), Penal Code, are |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(a-1) A person commits an offense if the person is an owner, |
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operator, or employee of a group home, nursing facility, assisted |
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living facility, boarding home facility, intermediate care |
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facility for persons with an intellectual or developmental |
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disability [mental retardation], or other institutional care |
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facility and the person intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or |
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with criminal negligence by omission causes to a child, elderly |
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individual, or disabled individual who is a resident of that group |
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home or facility: |
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(1) serious bodily injury; |
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(2) serious mental deficiency, impairment, or injury; |
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or |
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(3) bodily injury. |
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(i) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under |
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Subsection (b)(2) that before the offense the actor: |
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(1) notified in person the child, elderly individual, |
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or disabled individual that the actor [he] would no longer provide |
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any of the care described by Subsection (d),[;] and |
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[(2)] notified in writing the parents or a person, |
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other than the actor, [himself] acting in loco parentis to the |
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child, elderly individual, or disabled individual that the actor |
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[he] would no longer provide any of the care described by Subsection |
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(d); or |
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(2) [(3)] notified in writing the Department of Family |
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and Protective [and Regulatory] Services that the actor [he] would |
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no longer provide any of the care described by [set forth in] |
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Subsection (d). |
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SECTION 2. Section 22.04(c)(3), Penal Code, is amended to |
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read as follows: |
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(3) "Disabled individual" means a person: |
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(A) with one or more of the following: |
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(i) autism spectrum disorder, as defined by |
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Section 1355.001, Insurance Code; |
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(ii) developmental disability, as defined |
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by Section 112.042, Human Resources Code; |
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(iii) intellectual disability, as defined |
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by Section 591.003, Health and Safety Code; |
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(iv) severe emotional disturbance, as |
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defined by Section 261.001, Family Code; [or] |
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(v) traumatic brain injury, as defined by |
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Section 92.001, Health and Safety Code; or |
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(vi) mental illness, as defined by Section |
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571.003, Health and Safety Code; or |
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(B) who otherwise by reason of age or physical or |
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mental disease, defect, or injury is substantially unable to |
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protect the person's self from harm or to provide food, shelter, or |
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medical care for the person's self. |
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SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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before that date. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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______________________________ |
______________________________ |
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President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.B. No. 3019 was passed by the House on May 6, |
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2017, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 2 present, not |
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voting. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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I certify that H.B. No. 3019 was passed by the Senate on May |
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22, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. |
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______________________________ |
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Secretary of the Senate |
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APPROVED: _____________________ |
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Date |
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_____________________ |
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Governor |