H.B. No. 3439

	AN ACT
	relating to missing children; providing a criminal penalty.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Article 63.001(3), Code of Criminal Procedure,
	is amended to read as follows:
	(3)  "Missing child" means a child whose whereabouts
	are unknown to the child's legal custodian, the circumstances of
	whose absence indicate that:
	(A)  the child did not voluntarily leave the care
	and control of the custodian, and the taking of the child was not
	authorized by law;
	(B)  the child voluntarily left the care and
	control of the [his legal] custodian without the custodian's
	consent and without intent to return; [or]
	(C)  the child was taken or retained in violation
	of the terms of a court order for possession of or access to the
	child; or
	(D)  the child was taken or retained without the
	permission of the custodian and with the effect of depriving the
	custodian of possession of or access to the child unless the taking
	or retention of the child was prompted by the commission or
	attempted commission of family violence, as defined by Section
	71.004, Family Code, against the child or the actor.
	SECTION 2.  Section 25.03, Penal Code, is amended by
	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c-1) and (c-2) to
	read as follows:
	(a)  A person commits an offense if the person takes or
	retains a child younger than 18 years of age [when the person]:
	(1)  when the person knows that the person's taking or
	retention violates the express terms of a judgment or order,
	including a temporary order, of a court disposing of the child's
	custody; [or]
	(2)  when the person  has not been awarded custody of
	the child by a court of competent jurisdiction, knows that a suit
	for divorce or a civil suit or application for habeas corpus to
	dispose of the child's custody has been filed, and takes the child
	out of the geographic area of the counties composing the judicial
	district if the court is a district court or the county if the court
	is a statutory county court, without the permission of the court and
	with the intent to deprive the court of authority over the child; or
	(3)  outside of the United States with the intent to
	deprive a person entitled to possession of or access to the child of
	that possession or access and without the permission of that
	person.
	(c-1)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
	Subsection (a)(3) that:
	(1)  the taking or retention of the child was pursuant
	to a valid order providing for possession of or access to the child;
	or
	(2)  notwithstanding any violation of a valid order
	providing for possession of or access to the child, the actor's
	retention of the child was due only to circumstances beyond the
	actor's control, and the actor promptly provided notice or made
	reasonable attempts to provide notice of those circumstances to the
	other person entitled to possession of or access to the child.
	(c-2)  Subsection (a)(3) does not apply if, at the time of
	the offense, the person taking or retaining the child:
	(1)  was entitled to possession of or access to the
	child; and
	(2)  was fleeing the commission or attempted commission
	of family violence, as defined by Section 71.004, Family Code,
	against the child or the person.
	SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act in amending
	Article 63.001(3), Code of Criminal Procedure, applies only to the
	report of a missing child made under Chapter 63, Code of Criminal
	Procedure, as amended by this Act, on or after the effective date of
	this Act. The report of a missing child made before the effective
	date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the report was
	made, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act in amending
	Section 25.03, Penal Code, applies only to an offense committed on
	or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed
	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
	effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is
	continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section,
	an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if
	any element of the offense occurred before that date.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 3439 was passed by the House on May
	13, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 134, Nays 0, 2 present, not
	voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 3439 was passed by the Senate on May
	24, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED:  _____________________
	Date
	_____________________
	Governor