2023 Texas Statutes › Code of Criminal Procedure › Title 1 - Code of Criminal Procedure › Chapter 63 - Missing Children and Missing Persons › Subchapter A. General Provisions › Article 63.001. Definitions

In this chapter:
(1)  "Abduct" has the meaning assigned by Section 20.01, Penal Code.
(1-a)  "Child" means a person under 18 years of age.
(2) "Missing person" means a person 18 years old or older whose disappearance is possibly not voluntary.
(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 custodian without the custodian's consent and without intent to return;
(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.
(4) "Missing child" or "missing person" also includes a person of any age who is missing and:
(A) is under proven physical or mental disability or is senile, and because of one or more of these conditions is subject to immediate danger or is a danger to others;
(B) is in the company of another person or is in a situation the circumstances of which indicate that the missing child's or missing person's safety is in doubt;  or
(C) is unemancipated as defined by the law of this state.
(5)  "Missing child or missing person report" means information that is:
(A)  given to a law enforcement agency on a form used for sending information to the national crime information center; and
(B)  about a child or missing person whose whereabouts are unknown to the reporter and who is alleged in the form by the reporter to be missing.
(6) "Legal custodian of a child" means a parent of a child if no managing conservator or guardian of the person of the child has been appointed, the managing conservator of a child or a guardian of a child if a managing conservator or guardian has been appointed for the child, a possessory conservator of a child if the child is absent from the possessory conservator of the child at a time when the possessory conservator is entitled to possession of the child and the child is not believed to be with the managing conservator, or any other person who has assumed temporary care and control of a child if at the time of disappearance the child was not living with his parent, guardian, managing conservator, or possessory conservator.
(7) "Clearinghouse" means the missing children and missing persons information clearinghouse.
(8) "Law enforcement agency" means a police department of a city in this state, a sheriff of a county in this state, or the Department of Public Safety.
(9) "Possible match" occurs if the similarities between an unidentified body and a missing child or person would lead one to believe they are the same person.
(10) "City or state agency" means an employment commission, the Texas Department of Human Services, the Texas Department of Transportation, and any other agency that is funded or supported by the state or a city government.
(11) "Birth certificate agency" means a municipal or county official that records and maintains birth certificates and the bureau of vital statistics.
(12) "Bureau of vital statistics" means the bureau of vital statistics of the Texas Department of Health.
(13) "School" means a public primary school or private primary school that charges a fee for tuition and has more than 25 students enrolled and attending courses at a single location.
Added by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 132, Sec. 1, eff. May 22, 1985.  Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 657, Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 1987;  Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 1052, Sec. 7.03, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.  Renumbered from Human Resources Code Sec. 74.001 by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 167, Sec. 5.01(a)(26), eff. Sept. 1, 1987.  Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 22(43), eff. Sept. 1, 1995;  Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 178, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995;  Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 51, Sec. 1;  Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.  Renumbered from Human Resources Code Sec. 79.001 and amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1427, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.  Subd. (3) amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 3.10, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.  Renumbered from Vernon's Ann.C.C.P. art. 62.001 and amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 19.01(8)(A), eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
Amended by:
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 840 (H.B. 3439), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2011.
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1019 (H.B. 2662), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2011.
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1100 (S.B. 1551), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2011.
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 571 (S.B. 742), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2013.