BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

C.S.H.B. 2617

By: Anchía

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

Current state law mandates an expunction of records upon the successful completion of certain pretrial intervention programs. However, the bill author has informed the committee that participants who successfully complete a pretrial intervention program, such as Veterans Treatment Court, Mental Health Court, and Drug Court, are currently only told by the judge that they qualify for an expunction and are left on their own to navigate the expunction process, leading to only a few following through with the process because of costs, time, and a limited understanding of the expunction process. C.S.H.B. 2617 seeks to make expunction orders automatic on completion of certain pretrial intervention programs and seeks to enact other related changes to the expunction process in an effort to increase the efficiency of the process and help drastically reduce recidivism, save money for the state, and enable more Texans to enter the workforce and contribute to the state's economy.

 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

 

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

 

ANALYSIS

 

C.S.H.B. 2617 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to revise statutory provisions relating to certain specialty court programs as follows:

·         replaces the authorizations for an applicable court, with the consent of the state's attorney, to enter an expunction order for a person entitled to expunction because the court finds that the indictment or information was dismissed or quashed because the person completed a veterans treatment court program or a mental health court program created under applicable Government Code provisions, or former law, with a requirement to do so and removes the condition regarding the consent of the state's attorney;

·         requires a trial court that is a district court or a district court in the county in which the trial court is located to enter an expunction order for a person entitled to expunction because the court finds that the indictment or information was dismissed or quashed because the person completed a pretrial intervention program authorized under Government Code provisions relating to the operation of certain services and programs, other than a veterans treatment court program or a mental health court program, not later than the 30th day after the date the court, as applicable:

o   dismisses the case following the person's successful completion of an applicable pretrial intervention program; or

o   receives the information regarding the dismissal;

·         requires the person for whom a court is required to enter an expunction order under these provisions to provide to the state's attorney all of the information required in a petition for expunction under applicable state law and any affidavit required under statutory provisions relating to an indictment or information that is dismissed or quashed as a condition for eligibility for certain expunctions attesting to the fact that the person has not previously received the applicable expunction; and

·         requires the state's attorney to prepare an expunction order under these provisions for the court's signature.

 

C.S.H.B. 2617 accordingly does the following with respect to the expunction orders under the bill's provisions relating to certain specialty programs:

·         removes a requirement for the state's attorney to prepare an expunction order under those bill provisions for the court's signature and notify the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) if the person who is the subject of the order is in TDCJ's custody;

·         makes certain requirements imposed on a court under statutory provisions relating to the required content of certain expunction orders inapplicable to an expunction order entered under the bill's provisions; and

·         makes inapplicable to an expunction order under the bill's provisions the requirement for each official or agency or other governmental entity named in certain expunction orders, on receipt of the order, to obliterate, if removal is impracticable, all portions of the record or file that identify the person who is the subject of the order and notify the court of the action.

 

C.S.H.B. 2617 requires a trial court that is a district court or a district court in the county in which the trial court is located to enter an expunction order for an applicable person entitled to expunction because the indictment or information charging the person with the commission of an applicable offense has not been presented against the person at any time following the arrest and the attorney representing the state certifies that the applicable arrest records and files are not needed for use in any criminal investigation or prosecution, including an investigation or prosecution of another person, not later than the 30th day after the date the court receives that certification from the attorney representing the state. The bill requires the following:

·         the state's attorney who certified that the applicable arrest records and files are not needed for use in any criminal investigation or prosecution to prepare an expunction order under these provisions for the court's signature; and

·         the person for whom a court is required to enter the expunction order to provide to the attorney representing the state all of the information required in a petition for expunction under statutory provisions relating to the contents of a petition.

The bill prohibits a court that enters an expunction order under these provisions from charging any fee or assessing any cost for the expunction.

 

C.S.H.B. 2617 authorizes a community supervision and corrections department established under applicable Government Code provisions or a state attorney's office, in possession of records and files subject to an expunction order based on an entitlement because the court finds that the indictment or information was dismissed or quashed because the person completed a veterans treatment court program, mental health court program, or pretrial intervention program authorized under applicable Government Code provisions, or former law, to retain and use those records and files only for the purpose of developing and operating pretrial intervention programs in a judicial district served by the department or office.

 

C.S.H.B. 2617 waives the following fees imposed under applicable state law for an applicable petitioner entitled to expunction because the indictment or information charging the person with the commission of an applicable offense has not been presented against the person at any time following the arrest and the attorney representing the state certifies that the applicable arrest records and files are not needed for use in any criminal investigation or prosecution, including an investigation or prosecution of another person, after the attorney representing the state makes such a certification:

·         the fee charged for filing an ex parte petition in a civil action in district court;

·         $1 plus postage for each certified mailing of notice of the hearing date; and

·         $2 plus postage for each certified mailing of certified copies of an order of expunction.

The bill also waives the following fees imposed under applicable state law for an applicable petitioner entitled to expunction because the court finds that the indictment or information was dismissed or quashed because the person completed a pretrial intervention program authorized under applicable Government Code provisions, or former law, after successful completion of such a pretrial intervention program:

·         the fee charged for filing an ex parte petition in a civil action in district court;

·         $1 plus postage for each certified mailing of notice of the hearing date; and

·         $2 plus postage for each certified mailing of certified copies of an order of expunction.

These provisions relating to the waiver of fees apply to the fees charged or costs assessed for an expunction order entered on or after the bill's effective date, regardless of whether the underlying arrest occurred before, on, or after the bill's effective date.

 

C.S.H.B. 2617 amends the Government Code to remove the following provisions regarding a determination by a veterans treatment court or a mental health court for an applicable defendant that a dismissal is in the best interest of justice:

·         the provision requiring the veterans treatment court or mental health court to include all of the requisite dismissal information about the defendant for certain ex parte petitions for expunction under statutory provisions relating to the contents of such a petition; and

·         the provision requiring the court in which the criminal case is pending to dismiss the case against the defendant and authorizing the trial court to do the following:

o   if the court is a district court, enter, with the consent of the state's attorney, an order of expunction on behalf of the defendant under the bill's provisions relating to certain specialty court programs; or

o   if the court is not a district court, forward the appropriate dismissal and expunction information, with the consent of the state's attorney, to enable a district court with jurisdiction to enter such an order of expunction.

The bill instead requires the court in which the criminal case is pending, on receipt of the dismissal information from the veterans treatment court or mental health court, to do the following:

·         dismiss the case against the defendant; and

·         if that trial court is not a district court, for purposes of the bill's provisions relating to certain specialty court programs, provide to a district court in the county in which the trial court is located information about the dismissal.

 

C.S.H.B. 2617 establishes that, except as provided by the bill's provisions, the bill applies, regardless of when the underlying arrest occurred, to the expunction of arrest records and files for a person:

·         who successfully completes any of the following programs before, on, or after the bill's effective date:

o   a veterans treatment court program or mental health court program created under applicable Government Code provisions, or former law; or

o   a pretrial intervention program authorized under Government Code provisions relating to the operation of certain services and programs; or

·         whose case an attorney representing the state certified that the applicable arrest records and files were not needed for use in any criminal investigation or prosecution.

For a person who is entitled to expunction because the indictment or information charging the person with the commission of an applicable offense has not been presented against the person at any time following the arrest and the attorney representing the state makes the applicable certification, or because the court finds that the indictment or information was dismissed or quashed because the person completed such a program, based on a successful completion of such a program before the bill's effective date or the certification by an attorney representing the state as described by the bill's provisions before the bill's effective date, notwithstanding the 30‑day time limit provided for the court to enter an automatic order of expunction under the bill's provisions, the court must enter the required order of expunction for the person as soon as practicable after the court receives written notice from any party to the case about the person's entitlement to the expunction.

 

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

September 1, 2025.

 

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

 

While C.S.H.B. 2617 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

 

The substitute includes provisions that were not in the introduced doing the following:

  • requiring a trial court that is a district court or a district court in the county in which the trial court is located to enter an expunction order for an applicable person entitled to expunction because indictment or information charging the person with the commission of an applicable offense has not been presented against the person at any time following the arrest and the attorney representing the state makes the applicable certification not later than the 30th day after the date the court receives that certification from the attorney representing the state;
  • requiring the following:
    • the state's attorney who certified that the applicable arrest records and files are not needed for use in any criminal investigation or prosecution to prepare an expunction order under these provisions for the court's signature; and
    • the person for whom a court is required to enter the expunction order to provide to the attorney representing the state all of the information required in a petition for expunction under statutory provisions relating to the contents of a petition;
  • prohibiting a court that enters an expunction order under these provisions from charging any fee or assessing any cost for the expunction; and
  • establishing the following:
    • except as provided by the bill's provisions, the bill applies, regardless of when the underlying arrest occurred, to the expunction of arrest records and files for a person whose case an attorney representing the state certified that the applicable arrest records and files were not needed for use in any criminal investigation or prosecution; and
    • for a person who is entitled to expunction because the indictment or information charging the person with the commission of an applicable offense has not been presented against the person at any time following the arrest and the attorney representing the state makes the applicable certification, based on such a certification before the bill's effective date, notwithstanding the 30-day time limit provided for the court to enter an automatic order of expunction under the bill's provisions, the court must enter the required order of expunction for the person as soon as practicable after the court receives written notice from any party to the case about the person's entitlement to the expunction.

 

The substitute includes a provision, absent from the introduced, waiving certain fees imposed under applicable state law for an applicable petitioner entitled to expunction because the indictment or information charging the person with the commission of an applicable offense has not been presented against the person at any time following the arrest and the attorney representing the state certifies that the applicable arrest records and files are not needed for use in any criminal investigation or prosecution, including an investigation or prosecution of another person, after the attorney representing the state makes such a certification.