By: Yost H.B. No. 748
73R2709 DAK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the fingerprinting and photographing of a child.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 51.15, Family Code, as amended by
1-5 Chapters 385, 515, and 576, Acts of the 70th Legislature, Regular
1-6 Session, 1987, is amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 51.15. Fingerprints and Photographs. (a) No child may
1-8 be fingerprinted or photographed without the consent of the
1-9 juvenile court except as provided by this <subsection or by
1-10 subsections (f) and (i) of this> section.
1-11 (b) A child's fingerprints and photograph may be taken and
1-12 filed by a law-enforcement officer <investigating a case> if:
1-13 (1) the child is 10 <15> years of age or older and is
1-14 referred to the juvenile court for delinquent conduct that violates
1-15 the penal laws of this state of the grade of <any> felony; or
1-16 (2) the child is <under> 15 years of age or older and
1-17 is referred to the juvenile court for delinquent conduct <a felony
1-18 listed in Section 53.045(a) of this code>.
1-19 <(b) Except as provided in Subsections (h) and (i) of this
1-20 section, no child taken into custody may be photographed without
1-21 the consent of the juvenile court unless:>
1-22 <(1) the child is 15 years of age or older and is
1-23 referred to the juvenile court for a felony; or>
1-24 <(2) the child is under 15 years of age and is
2-1 referred to the juvenile court for a felony listed in Section
2-2 53.045(a) of this code.>
2-3 (c) <Except as provided by this subsection, fingerprint and
2-4 photograph files or records of children shall be kept separate from
2-5 those of adults, and fingerprints or photographs known to be those
2-6 of a child shall be maintained on a local basis only and not sent
2-7 to a central state or federal depository. Fingerprint and
2-8 photograph files or records of a person who is transferred from the
2-9 Texas Youth Commission to the Texas Department of Corrections under
2-10 a determinate sentence may be transferred to adult records on or
2-11 after the date of transfer. If a child has been reported as
2-12 missing by a parent, guardian, or conservator of that child or a
2-13 child has escaped from the custody of a juvenile detention
2-14 facility, the Texas Youth Commission, or any other agency to which
2-15 the child has been committed, the child's fingerprints and
2-16 photograph may be sent to and indexed into the files of the
2-17 Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
2-18 to aid in the location and identification of the child.>
2-19 <(d) Fingerprint and photograph files or records of children
2-20 are subject to inspection as provided in Subsections (a) and (d) of
2-21 Section 51.14 of this code.>
2-22 <(e) A child's fingerprints and photographs that are not
2-23 transferred under Subsection (c) of this section shall be removed
2-24 from files or records and destroyed if:>
2-25 <(1) a petition alleging that the child engaged in
2-26 delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision is
2-27 not filed, or the proceedings are dismissed after a petition is
3-1 filed, or the child is found not to have engaged in the alleged
3-2 conduct;>
3-3 <(2) the person reaches 18 years of age, is not
3-4 subject to commitment to the Texas Youth Commission or to transfer
3-5 under a determinate sentence to the Texas Department of
3-6 Corrections, and there is no record that he committed a criminal
3-7 offense after reaching 17 years of age; or>
3-8 <(3) the person is older than 18 years, at least three
3-9 years have elapsed after the person's release from commitment, and
3-10 there is no evidence that he committed a criminal offense after the
3-11 release.>
3-12 <(f)> If latent fingerprints are found during the
3-13 investigation of conduct that violates the penal laws of this
3-14 state <an offense>, and a law-enforcement officer has reasonable
3-15 cause to believe that they are those of a particular child, if
3-16 otherwise authorized by law, the officer <he> may fingerprint the
3-17 child regardless of the child's age or conduct <offense> for the
3-18 purpose of immediate comparison with the latent fingerprints. If
3-19 the comparison is negative, the fingerprint card and other copies
3-20 of the fingerprints taken shall be destroyed immediately. If the
3-21 comparison is positive, and the child is referred to the juvenile
3-22 court, the officer, if not otherwise authorized to retain and file
3-23 the fingerprints, shall deliver the fingerprint card and all other
3-24 copies of the fingerprints taken <shall be delivered> to the court
3-25 for disposition. <If the child is not referred to the court, the
3-26 fingerprint card and other copies of the fingerprints taken shall
3-27 be destroyed immediately.>
4-1 <(g) When destruction of fingerprints or photographs is
4-2 required by Subsection (e), (f), or (h) of this section, the agency
4-3 with custody of the fingerprints or photographs shall proceed with
4-4 destruction without judicial order. However, if the fingerprints
4-5 or photographs are not destroyed, the juvenile court, on its own
4-6 motion or on application by the person fingerprinted or
4-7 photographed, shall order the destruction as required by this
4-8 section.>
4-9 (d) <(h)> If, during the investigation of conduct that
4-10 violates the penal laws of this state <a criminal offense>, a law
4-11 enforcement officer has reason to believe that a photograph of a
4-12 child taken into custody or detained as permitted under this title
4-13 will assist in the identification of the offender and if not
4-14 otherwise prohibited by law, the officer may, without regard to the
4-15 child's age or conduct, photograph the face of the child. If the
4-16 child is not identified as having engaged in conduct that violates
4-17 the penal laws of this state <an offender>, the photograph and its
4-18 negative shall be destroyed immediately. If the child is
4-19 identified through the photograph and the child is referred to the
4-20 juvenile court for the conduct <offense> investigated, the officer,
4-21 if not otherwise authorized to retain and file the photograph,
4-22 shall deliver the photograph and its negative <shall be delivered>
4-23 to the juvenile court for disposition. <If the child is not
4-24 referred to the juvenile court for the offense investigated, the
4-25 photograph and its negative shall be destroyed immediately.>
4-26 (e) <(i)> A law enforcement officer may fingerprint or
4-27 photograph a child taken into custody, or detained as permitted
5-1 under this title, for delinquent conduct and file the fingerprints
5-2 or photographs if the officer is unable to identify the child after
5-3 making a reasonable effort to do so.
5-4 (f) Except as provided by this subsection, fingerprint and
5-5 photograph files or records of children maintained by a law
5-6 enforcement agency shall be kept separate from those of adults, and
5-7 fingerprints or photographs known to be those of a child shall be
5-8 maintained locally only and not sent to a central state or federal
5-9 depository. If a child has been reported as missing by a parent,
5-10 guardian, or conservator of that child or a child has escaped from
5-11 the custody of a juvenile detention facility, the Texas Youth
5-12 Commission, or any other agency to which the child has been
5-13 committed, the child's fingerprints and photograph may be sent to
5-14 and indexed into the files of the Department of Public Safety and
5-15 the Federal Bureau of Investigation to aid in the location and
5-16 identification of the child. Fingerprint and photograph files or
5-17 records of a person who is transferred from the Texas Youth
5-18 Commission to the institutional division of the Texas Department of
5-19 Criminal Justice under a determinate sentence may be transferred to
5-20 adult records on or after the date of transfer.
5-21 (g) A child's fingerprints and photographs that are not
5-22 transferred under Subsection (f) of this section shall be removed
5-23 from files or records and destroyed if:
5-24 (1) the child is found not to have engaged in the
5-25 alleged conduct;
5-26 (2) the person reaches 18 years of age, is not subject
5-27 to commitment to the Texas Youth Commission or to transfer to the
6-1 institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,
6-2 and there is no record that the person committed a criminal offense
6-3 after reaching 17 years of age; or
6-4 (3) the person is older than 18 years of age, at least
6-5 three years have elapsed after the person's release from
6-6 commitment, and there is no evidence that the person committed a
6-7 criminal offense after his release.
6-8 (h) When destruction of fingerprints or photographs is
6-9 required by Subsection (c), (d), or (g) of this section, the agency
6-10 with custody of the fingerprints or photographs shall proceed with
6-11 destruction without judicial order. If the fingerprints or
6-12 photographs are not destroyed, the juvenile court, on its own
6-13 motion or on application by the person fingerprinted or
6-14 photographed, shall order the destruction as required by this
6-15 section.
6-16 (i) Fingerprint and photograph files or records of children
6-17 are subject to inspection as provided by Sections 51.14(a) and (d)
6-18 of this code.
6-19 (j) This section does not prohibit a law enforcement officer
6-20 from fingerprinting or photographing a child, at the request of a
6-21 parent or guardian, for the purposes of aiding in the location and
6-22 identification of the child in the event that the child is reported
6-23 as missing or as a runaway if the fingerprints and photographs are
6-24 turned over to the parent or guardian and are not maintained on
6-25 file by the law enforcement officer or a law enforcement agency.
6-26 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
6-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-4 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-5 passage, and it is so enacted.