Texas 85th Legislative Sexual Assault Laws, September 1, 2017
September 1, 2017 many laws were enacted in the state of Texas. According to the Rasansky Law Firm there are 1,252 new Texas laws on the books. We all know the new law banning texting while driving. What about theses laws, “car seat education during drivers ed”, “disallowing parent consent on child marriages”, “protecting sermons from subpoenas” and “hunting hogs from hot air balloons”. On their website, Ransanky Law Firm lists a few more new laws., click here to see more.
A key bill that took effect September 1st is SB7. According to Amy Campbell of TASB (Texas Association of School Boards), the rise in reports of educator misconduct prompted the Texas Legislators to pass Senate Bill 7 (SB 7) during the regular session of the 85th Texas Legislature. SB 7 adds more penalties to school staff misconduct with children. It also increases the penalties for not reporting of inappropriate interaction with students. To see her article on SB7 click here When I was researching information for this blog I came across the local CBS link on “sexual assault of a child”. To give you an idea of this grave issue in schools click here and be sure to click “show more”. I never got to the end of “show more”. Click Here – CBS local news. With this new law, if you see or know something, you must say something or risk being charged with a crime yourself. Sexual assault offenders can no longer transfer from one campus to another like priests have been able to do for so long. Finally!
Another awesome bill that took effect on September 1st is Senate Bill 998. It completely removes the statute of limitations on criminal cases involving the exploitation of a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual. Again, finally! Because of the statute of limitation no longer exists, survivors of child exploitation are able to press charges against the perpetrator. Predators have gotten away with this crime for years. But no more!
TAASA ( Texas Association Against Sexual Assault) has a more comprehensive list of the new laws concerning sex crimes in Texas. A few are listed below.
- Level funding to the Sexual Assault Prevention and Crisis Services grant program for rape crisis centers
- $20.3 million appropriated for rape crisis centers from revenue generated by the Sexually Oriented Business Fee
- Sexual assault by coercion recognized in the Penal Code
- Termination of parental rights based on sexual assault by one parent against the other parent
- A new statewide rape kit tracking system
- Limits on vexatious litigation by assailants and abusers in protective order proceedings
- New mandates on colleges and universities for responding to sexual assault
Click here to view a more comprehensive list of the new sexual assault laws.
