LUBBOCK · HOUSTON · DALLAS · AUSTIN 2017 85th Legislative Update Texas Municipal Courts Education Center Funded by a Grant from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals TEXAS MUNICIPAL COURTS EDUCATION CENTER 2210 Hancock Drive, Austin, TX 78756 Telephone: 512.320.8274 1.800.252.3718 Fax: 512.435.6118 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.tmcec.com Funded by a Grant from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and Friday at Texas Department of Transportation TMCEC IS A PROJECT OF THE TEXAS MUNICIPAL COURTS ASSOCIATION TMCEC Legislative Update ii August 2017 TMCEC Legislative Update iii August 2017 TEXAS MUNICIPAL COURTS EDUCATION CENTER 2210 Hancock Drive Austin, TX 78756 512.320.8274 800.252.3718 512.435.6118 FAX www.tmcec.com Staff Roster Avani Bhansali Molly Knowles Administrative Assistant Communications Assistant Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Elizabeth De La Garza Hope Lochridge TxDOT Grant Administrator Executive Director Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Robby Chapman Regan Metteauer Director of Clerk Education and Program Attorney Program Attorney Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Pat Ek Ned Minevitz Registration Coordinator TxDOT Grant Administrator & Program Email: [email protected] Attorney Email: [email protected] Crystal Ferguson Deadra Stark Research Assistant / Office Manager Administrative Director / Controller Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Tracie Glaeser Patty Thamez Program Coordinator Program Coordinator & Network Email: [email protected] Administrator Email: [email protected] Mark Goodner Ryan Kellus Turner Deputy Counsel and Director of Judicial Education General Counsel & Director of Education Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Demoine Jones Multimedia Specialist Email: [email protected] TMCEC Legislative Update iv August 2017 1 TEXAS MUNICIPAL COURTS ASSOCIATION TEXAS MUNICIPAL COURTS EDUCATION CENTER OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS - FY 2017 President Region I Director Region VII Director Hon. Stewart Milner Ms. Sheila Roach Hon. John Bull Presiding Judge Court Administrator Presiding Judge City of Arlington City of Canyon City of San Antonio PO Box 90403, MS 63-0200 301 16th Street 401 S. Frio Street Arlington, TX 76004 Canyon, TX 79015 San Antonio, TX 78207 817/459-6980 806/655-5023 210/207-7130 FAX: 817/459-6971 FAX: 806/655-5007 FAX: 210/207-4259 EMAIL: [email protected] EMAIL: [email protected] EMAIL: [email protected] President-Elect Region II Director Region VIII Director Hon. Michael Acuna Hon. Danny Rodgers Hon. Michael Davis Municipal Judge Associate Judge Presiding Judge City of Dallas City of Fort Worth City of Conroe 2014 Main St, Rm 331 1000 Throckmorton 2300 Plantation Dr. Dallas, TX 75201 Fort Worth, TX 76102 Conroe, TX 77303 214/ 671-9901 817/392-6715 936/522-3380 FAX: 214/243-2110 FAX: 817/392-8670 EMAIL:[email protected] EMAIL: FAX: 936/522-3396 [email protected] EMAIL: [email protected] First Vice-President Hon. Esmeralda Peña Garcia Region III Director Region IX Director Municipal Judge Hon. Brian Holman Hon. Julie Escalante City of Houston Presiding Judge Presiding Judge 1400 Lubbock St. City of Lewisville City of Baytown Houston, TX 77002 1197 West Main 3120 N. Main St. 713/247-5464 Lewisville, TX 75027 Baytown, TX 77521 281/627-1978 FAX: 713/247-8747 972/219-3419 FAX: 972/219-3708 FAX: 281/420-5810 EMAIL: [email protected] EMAIL: [email protected] EMAIL: [email protected] Second Vice-President Region IV Director Region X Director Hon. Robin A. Ramsay Vacant Presiding Judge Hon. Horacio Pena City of Denton Municipal Judge Region V Director 601 E. Hickory, Suite D City of Mission Hon. Sharon Hatten th Denton, TX 76205 1200 E 8 St Presiding Judge 940/349-8139 Mission, TX 78572-5811 City of Midland FAX: 940/349-9924 956/584-5150 406 East Illinois EMAIL: [email protected] FAX: 956/584-5159 Midland, TX 79702 432/685-7300 EMAIL: Secretary FAX: 432/685-7319 [email protected] Judge Hilda P. Cuthbertson EMAIL: [email protected] City of Snook Past President 10245 FM 2155 Rd. Region VI Director Hon. Edward Spillane Snook, TX 77878 Hon. Kathleen Person Presiding Judge 979/272-3021 Presiding Judge City of College Station FAX: 979/224-0596 City of Temple P.O. Box 9960 EMAIL: [email protected] 401 North Third Street College Station, TX 77842 Temple, TX 76502 979/764-3850 Treasurer 254/298-5687 FAX: 979/764-3894 Hon. Robert C. Richter, Jr. FAX: 254/773-4301 EMAIL: [email protected] Associate Judge EMAIL: [email protected] City of Stafford 1350 NASA Parkway, Ste. 200 Houston, TX 77058 281/333-9229 FAX: 281/333-1814 EMAIL: [email protected] TMCEC Legislative Update v August 2017 Texas Municipal Courts Education Center 2017 Legislative Update August 4, 2017 August 8, 2017 August 15, 2017 August 18, 2017 Overton Hotel Omni Westside Omni Park West Omni Southpark 806.776.7000 281.558.8338 972.869.4300 512.448.2222 Lubbock Houston Dallas Austin AGENDA 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Registration and Breakfast 9:00 – 9:10 a.m. Announcements 9:10 – 12:00 p.m. SESSION ONE 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. SESSION TWO (also includes a Q&A session) 5:00 p.m. Adjournment Each session will use a thematic approach to address bills pertaining to the following topics: Courts, Courts Costs, and Administration of Justice Juvenile Justice and the Interests of Children Magistrate Duties, Domestic Violence, Mental Health, and Human Trafficking Local Government Issues Procedural Law Substantive Criminal Law Traffic Safety and Transportation Code Amendments The day will conclude with a Q&A session. Follow us @TMCEC on Twitter and participate in the discussion with #TMCEC. Follow us @TMCEC on Twitter and participate in the dicussion with #TMCEC. Judicial Credit - 7 hours Continuing Legal Credit - 6 hours Funded by a Grant of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals TMCEC Legislative Update vi August 2017 Introduction to Materials THE ROAD AHEAD The passage of a texting while driving bill, criminal justice reform, the scrutiny of local government: it has been a memorable legislative year (and with the first Special Session underway the possibility of even more memories awaits). The Texas 85th Regular Legislature convened on January 10, 2017. The Texas Municipal Courts Education Center (TMCEC) tracked 1225 bills (nearly 259 more than during the 84th Regular Legislature). However, 140 days later, only 209 of the bills tracked (or 17.1 percent) became law. The 85th Regular Session will be remembered for many things, including changes in laws pertaining to fines and court costs, expunctions and court security. This publication contains 141 bill summaries divided into nine categories: (1) Courts, Court Costs, and Administration of Justice; (2) Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking; (3) Juvenile Justice and the Interests of Children; (4) Law Enforcement; (5) Local Government; (6) Magistrate Duties and Mental Health; (7) Procedural Law; (8) Substantive Criminal Law; and (9) Traffic Safety and Transportation. Admittedly, many of these bills defy efforts to pigeonhole them into one single category. If you prefer to read bill summaries organized numerically, rather than by topic, an alternate version of the legislative issue of The Recorder will be available online at www.tmcec.com. NOTE: The summaries contained in this publication were written during the months of May, June, and July. Thus, when a summary refers to “current law,” it is referring to the law prior to the day of the legislative enactment. Most amendments, except where noted, are effective September 1, 2017. TMCEC could not bring this compilation to you and maintain our educational mission without the assistance of the State of Texas, more specifically, the House Research Organization, the Senate Research Center, the Office of Court Administration, and the Legislative Budget Board. With a few exceptions, most of the bill summaries contained in this compilation are derived and adapted from the work product of the State of Texas and the forenamed agencies. We are most appreciative for their efforts. Many of the summaries are followed by commentary. The commentary is the collaborative efforts of the TMCEC staff attorneys. Thanks to Mark Goodner, Robby Chapman, Regan Metteauer, and Ned Minevitz for their contributions throughout this project. I also want to thank Texas Municipal Courts Fellowship recipients, Robert Avila, who is a second-year law student at Texas Tech University, and Mark Denman, who is a second- year law student at St. Mary’s University. Robert and Mark were critical in facilitating this project. I also want to thank Patty Thamez, Hope Lochridge, Demoine Jones, and the rest of the TMCEC staff for their commendable efforts in bringing this information to the courts and the people of Texas. A special word of thanks to the TMCEC Board of Directors, whose commitment to TMCEC’s educational mission is unwavering. Ryan Kellus Turner General Counsel & Director of Education, TMCEC July 21, 2017 TMCEC Legislative Update vii August 2017 Faculty Roster Robby Chapman Regan Metteauer Director of Clerk Education Program Attorney & Program Attorney TMCEC TMCEC 2210 Hancock Drive 2210 Hancock Drive Austin, TX 78756 Austin, TX 78756 512.320.8274 512.320.8274 [email protected] [email protected] Ryan Kellus Turner Mark Goodner General Counsel & Director of Edcuation Deputy Counsel & Director of TMCEC Judicial Education 2210 Hancock Drive 2210 Hancock Drive Austin, TX 78756 Austin, TX 78756-2509 512.320.8274 (o) 512.320.8274 512.435.6118 (f) [email protected] [email protected] TMCEC Legislative Update viii August 2017 About the Speakers ROBBY CHAPMAN TMCEC’s first mental health summit in May of 2016 for municipal court judges and prosecutors. Robby Chapman is the Presiding Judge for the City of Rollingwood and Director of Clerk Education & Mrs.