Tex. Code of Criminal Procedure § 46B.001

This is the official text of Tex. Code of Criminal Procedure § 46B.001, part of Texas’s Code of Criminal Procedure — sets the procedural rules for criminal cases in Texas.

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§ 46B.001. DEFINITIONS.

Official statutory text

In this chapter:

(1) "Adaptive behavior" means the effectiveness with or degree to which a person meets the standards of personal independence and social responsibility expected of the person's age and cultural group.

(2) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services Commission.

(3) "Competency restoration" means the treatment or education process for restoring a person's ability to consult with the person's attorney with a reasonable degree of rational understanding, including a rational and factual understanding of the court proceedings and charges against the person.

(4) "Developmental period" means the period of a person's life from birth through 17 years of age.

(5) "Electronic broadcast system" means a two-way electronic communication of image and sound between the defendant and the court and includes secure Internet videoconferencing.

(6) "Executive commissioner" means the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.

(7) "Inpatient mental health facility" has the meaning assigned by Section 571.003, Health and Safety Code.

(8) "Intellectual disability" means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning that is concurrent with deficits in adaptive behavior and originates during the developmental period.

(9) "Local mental health authority" has the meaning assigned by Section 571.003, Health and Safety Code.

(10) "Local intellectual and developmental disability authority" has the meaning assigned by Section 531.002, Health and Safety Code.

(11) "Mental health facility" has the meaning assigned by Section 571.003, Health and Safety Code.

(12) "Mental illness" means an illness, disease, or condition, other than epilepsy, dementia, substance abuse, or intellectual disability, that grossly impairs:

(A) a person's thought, perception of reality, emotional process, or judgment; or

(B) behavior as demonstrated by recent disturbed behavior.

(13) "Residential care facility" has the meaning assigned by Section 591.003, Health and Safety Code.

(14) "Subaverage general intellectual functioning" means a measured intelligence two or more standard deviations below the age-group mean, using a standardized psychometric instrument.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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