Sec. 169.002. AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH PROGRAM; ELIGIBILITY

(a) The commissioners court of a county or governing body of a municipality may establish a first offender prostitution prevention program for defendants charged with an offense under Section 43.02(a)(2), Penal Code, in which the defendant offered or agreed to hire a person to engage in sexual conduct.

(b) A defendant is eligible to participate in a first offender prostitution prevention program established under this chapter only if:

(1) the attorney representing the state consents to the defendant's participation in the program; and

(2) the court in which the criminal case is pending finds that the defendant has not been previously convicted of:

(A) an offense under Section 20A.02, 43.02, 43.03, 43.04, or 43.05, Penal Code;

(B) an offense listed in Section 3g(a)(1), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure; or

(C) an offense punishable as a felony under Chapter 481.

(c) For purposes of Subsection (b), a defendant has been previously convicted of an offense listed in that subsection if:

(1) the defendant was adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for a grant of deferred adjudication, regardless of whether the sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether the sentence was probated and the defendant was subsequently discharged from community supervision; or

(2) the defendant was convicted under the laws of another state for an offense containing elements that are substantially similar to the elements of an offense listed in Subsection (b).

(d) A defendant is not eligible to participate in the first offender prostitution prevention program if the defendant offered or agreed to hire a person to engage in sexual conduct and the person was younger than 18 years of age at the time of the offense.

(e) The court in which the criminal case is pending shall allow an eligible defendant to choose whether to participate in the first offender prostitution prevention program or otherwise proceed through the criminal justice system.

(f) If a defendant who chooses to participate in the first offender prostitution prevention program fails to attend any portion of the program, the court in which the defendant's criminal case is pending shall issue a warrant for the defendant's arrest and proceed on the criminal case as if the defendant had chosen not to participate in the program.

Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1289 , Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2011.