BILL ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 581 By: Jones, Jesse 04-27-95 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Every year thousands of peaceful law abiding citizens are having cases filed against them and being arrested due to other persons reporting their names to police when lawfully stopped for Class C Misdemeanors or traffic violations. In some cases, friends, relatives, or strangers, when traveling without proper identification, gives the police officer the name of another person to avoid being charged with the alleged violations. Unknowingly, the police accept the name of the innocent citizen from the friend, relative or stranger. Accordingly, the police record the violation of the law in the name of the law abiding citizen. PURPOSE House Bill 581 would allow an innocent party to file an affidavit with a local criminal justice agency to assist in the arrest of a person using an alias. Requires the Department of Public Safety to maintain information on persons using aliases and provides for penalties for giving false information to a peace officer. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill expressly grants additional rulemaking authority to the Texas Department of Public Safety in Section 3 of the bill (Chapter 60, Article 60.19, Subsection (c), Code of Criminal Procedure) and Section 4. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 38.02(c) and (d) of the Penal Code to increase the penalty for providing false information to a peace officer to a Class B Misdemeanor, unless the defendant is a fugitive in which case the penalty would be increased to a Class A Misdemeanor. SECTION 2. Amends Article 60.01(3) and adds Article 60.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, as follows: (3) requires the Department of Public Safety to maintain information on person using aliases (as provided under Article 60.19 of this code.); (17) defines the term "alias information". SECTION 3. Amends Article 60 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by adding Article 60.19 with new language as follows: Article 60.19(a): requires a criminal justice agency to report all verifiable reports of an offender using alias information, as defined in Article 60.01, which accurately describes another to the Department of Public Safety as outlined under polices adopted by the Department provided for under subsection (c). Article 60.19(b): requires the Department of Public Safety to maintain reports on the use of alias information which describes another, in the computerized criminal history system and or other law enforcement information system. The Department shall disseminate the information to agencies or persons making inquiries into the law enforcement information systems. Article 60.19(c): requires the Department of Public Safety to adopt procedures to implement this article. SECTION 4. Requires the Department of Public Safety to establish rules and procedures necessary to comply with Chapter 60 of the Code of Criminal Procedures as amended by this Act by January 1, 1996. SECTION 5. States that this Act only applies to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. Any offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed. SECTION 6. Effective Date. SECTION 7. Emergency Clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute retains the goal of the original bill to require the Department of Public Safety to maintain a record of individuals using alias information which accurately describes another. C.S.H.B. 581 allows the Department to maintain the information in the "computerized criminal history system" as well as any other law enforcement information system the Department determines appropriate. C.S.H.B. 581 also requires the Department to disseminate the information to agencies or persons making inquiries into the law enforcement information system. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION H.B. 581 was considered by the committee in a public hearing on April 18, 1995. The following person testified on the bill: David Gavin, representing the Department of Public Safety. The committee considered a complete substitute for the bill. The substitute was adopted without objection. The bill was reported favorably as substituted, with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed and be sent to the Committee on Local and Consent Calendars, by a record vote of 5 ayes, 0 nays, 0 pnv, 4 absent.