AI-assisted research summary: A child-victim or disability-victim hearsay statement may be used in a juvenile hearing only if the section’s notice, reliability, and testimony/availability requirements are met.
Sec. 54.031. HEARSAY STATEMENT OF CERTAIN ABUSE VICTIMS. (a) This section applies to a hearing under this title in which a child is alleged to be a delinquent child on the basis of a violation of any of the following provisions of the Penal Code, if a child 18 years of age or younger or a person with a disability is the alleged victim of the violation: (1) Chapter 21 (Sexual Offenses) or 22 (Assaultive Offenses); (2) Section 25.02 (Prohibited Sexual Conduct); (3) Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a Child); (4) Section 20A.02(a)(7) or (8) (Trafficking of Persons); or (5) Section 43.05(a)(2) (Compelling Prostitution). (b) This section applies only to statements that describe the alleged violation that: (1) were made by the child or person with a disability who is the alleged victim of the violation; and (2) were made to the first person, 18 years of age or older, to whom the child or person with a disability made a statement about the violation. (c) A statement that meets the requirements of Subsection (b) is not inadmissible because of the hearsay rule if: (1) on or before the 14th day before the date the hearing begins, the party intending to offer the statement: (A) notifies each other party of its intention to do so; (B) provides each other party with the name of the witness through whom it intends to offer the statement; and (C) provides each other party with a written summary of the statement; (2) the juvenile court finds, in a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, that the statement is reliable based on the time, content, and circumstances of the statement; and (3) the child or person with a disability who is the alleged victim testifies or is available to testify at the hearing in court or in any other manner provided by law. (d) In this section, "person with a disability" has the same meaning as "disabled individual" as defined by Section 22.04, Penal Code. Added by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 590, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1985. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 14.31, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 284 (S.B. 643), Sec. 3, eff. June 11, 2009. Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 24), Sec. 4.01, eff. September 1, 2011. Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 792 (S.B. 1019), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2025.