Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 1760	House Author:  White et al.
Effective:  9-1-19	Senate Sponsor:  Perry

            House Bill 1760 amends the Family Code and Human Resources Code to update provisions relating to the confidentiality, sharing, sealing, and destruction of juvenile records and certain records of at‑risk youth. Among other provisions, the bill revises the entities to whom certain facility, probation department, prosecutor, and court records may be disclosed and prohibits an individual or entity that receives such confidential information from disclosing the information unless otherwise authorized by law. The bill makes the records related to a youth who was provided prevention and intervention services by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department confidential and available only to certain treatment or service providers.

House Bill 1760 requires a juvenile court, on the court's own motion and without a hearing, to immediately order the sealing of all records related to the alleged conduct of a child if the court enters a finding that the allegations are not true. The bill makes records of a child referred to a juvenile court for conduct indicating a need for supervision subject to mandatory sealing only if the case resulted in a court filing. The bill changes the qualifications that trigger a juvenile court's authority to order the sealing of a person's juvenile records on application by the person. The bill provides for records relating to a child's conduct to be destroyed on a finding of no probable cause regardless of whether the child was taken into custody for the conduct.