Tex. Fam. Code § 55.44 · Subchapter C. CHILD UNFIT TO PROCEED AS A RESULT OF MENTAL ILLNESS OR INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
DISCRETIONARY TRANSFER TO CRIMINAL COURT ON 18TH BIRTHDAY OF CHILD.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) The juvenile court may waive its exclusive original jurisdiction and transfer all pending proceedings from the juvenile court to a criminal court on or after the 18th birthday of a child for whom the juvenile court or a court to which the child's case is referred has ordered inpatient mental health services or residential care for persons with an intellectual disability if:
(1) the child is not discharged or currently on furlough from the facility before reaching 18 years of age; and
(2) the child is alleged to have engaged in delinquent conduct that included a violation of a penal law listed in Section 53.045 and no adjudication concerning the alleged conduct has been made.
(b) A court conducting a waiver of jurisdiction and discretionary transfer hearing under this section shall conduct the hearing according to Sections 54.02(j), (k), and (l).
(c) If after the hearing the juvenile court waives its jurisdiction and transfers the case to criminal court, the juvenile court shall send notification of the transfer of a child under Subsection (a) to the facility. The criminal court shall, before the 91st day after the date of the transfer, institute proceedings under Chapter 46B, Code of Criminal Procedure. If those or any subsequent proceedings result in a determination that the defendant is competent to stand trial, the defendant may not receive a punishment for the delinquent conduct described by Subsection (a)(2) that results in confinement for a period longer than the maximum period of confinement the defendant could have received if the defendant had been adjudicated for the delinquent conduct while still a child and within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1477, Sec. 14, eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 35, Sec. 8, eff. Jan. 1, 2004.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 908 (H.B. 2884), Sec. 14, eff. September 1, 2007.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 1.016, eff. April 2, 2015.
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1166 (S.B. 1585), Sec. 11, eff. September 1, 2023.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/FA/htm/FA.55.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 1e6d07086650b25515d69050665ce70e0eeb50d2a37fe9589326f12b85b9495d
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
This section cites
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Code of Criminal Procedure
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.