By Greenberg H.B. No. 738
74R3750 PEP-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to public notification of the release of a sex offender
1-3 into the community; providing a penalty.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 3, Article 6252-13c.1, Revised Statutes,
1-6 is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 (b) If a person who is subject to registration under this
1-9 article receives an order deferring adjudication, community
1-10 supervision <probation>, or only a fine, the court pronouncing the
1-11 order or sentence shall conduct the prerelease notification
1-12 specified in Subsection (a) of this section on the day of entering
1-13 the order or sentencing.
1-14 (c) Not later than the 30th day after receipt of
1-15 notification under Subsection (a) or (b) of this section, the local
1-16 law enforcement authority shall provide notice to the public,
1-17 including, at a minimum, notice to residents who live within a
1-18 one-mile radius, in an area that has not been subdivided, or a
1-19 three-block area, in an area that has been subdivided, of the place
1-20 where the person subject to registration intends to reside. The
1-21 local law enforcement authority shall include in the notice the
1-22 person's name and address and the nature of the offense for which
1-23 the person was charged or convicted.
1-24 SECTION 2. Section 4, Article 6252-13c.1, Revised Statutes,
2-1 is amended to read as follows:
2-2 Sec. 4. Change of address. (a) If a person required to
2-3 register changes address, the person shall provide written notice
2-4 not later than the seventh day after the change to the local law
2-5 enforcement authority with whom the person last registered. Not
2-6 later than the third day after receipt of this notice, the local
2-7 law enforcement authority shall forward this information to the
2-8 department.
2-9 (b) If the person moves to a new municipality or county in
2-10 this state, the department shall inform the applicable local law
2-11 enforcement authority in the new area of the person's residence.
2-12 Not later than the 30th day after the date on which the local law
2-13 enforcement authority is informed under this subsection, the
2-14 authority shall provide notice to the public, including, at a
2-15 minimum, notice to residents who live within a one-mile radius, in
2-16 an area that has not been subdivided, or a three-block area, in an
2-17 area that has been subdivided, of the place where the person
2-18 subject to registration intends to reside.
2-19 (c) The local law enforcement authority shall include in the
2-20 notice given under Subsection (b) of this section the person's name
2-21 and address and the nature of the offense for which the person was
2-22 charged or convicted.
2-23 SECTION 3. Section 5(a), Article 6252-13c.1, Revised
2-24 Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
2-25 (a) A person who releases <the> information required for
2-26 registration under this article, other than information to be
2-27 released to the public under Section 3, 4, or 5A of this article,
3-1 to a person other than a full-time, fully paid, employed law
3-2 enforcement officer commits an offense.
3-3 SECTION 4. Article 6252-13c.1, Revised Statutes, is amended
3-4 by adding Section 5A to read as follows:
3-5 Sec. 5A. IMMUNITY FOR RELEASE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. (a)
3-6 The department or a penal institution may release to the public
3-7 information that a local law enforcement authority is directed to
3-8 release under Section 3 or 4 of this article.
3-9 (b) An individual, agency, entity, or local law enforcement
3-10 authority is not liable under Chapter 101, Civil Practice and
3-11 Remedies Code, or any other law for damages arising from the
3-12 release of information to any member of the public if that release
3-13 is authorized by this article.
3-14 (c) For the purposes of determining liability, the release
3-15 or withholding of information by an appointed or elected officer of
3-16 an agency, entity, or authority is a discretionary act.
3-17 SECTION 5. Section 9, Article 6252-13c.1, Revised Statutes,
3-18 is amended to read as follows:
3-19 Sec. 9. EXPIRATION OF DUTY TO REGISTER. (a) The duty to
3-20 register for a person with a reportable adjudication under Section
3-21 1(5)(D) of this article ends on the 10th anniversary of the date on
3-22 which:
3-23 (1) the person ceases to be under the supervision of
3-24 the Texas Youth Commission, if the person was committed to the
3-25 Texas Youth Commission other than under a determinate sentence;
3-26 (2) the person is discharged from the Texas Youth
3-27 Commission or the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, whichever
4-1 date is later, if the person was committed to the Texas Youth
4-2 Commission under a determinate sentence; or
4-3 (3) the disposition is made or the person completes
4-4 the terms of the disposition, whichever date is later, if the
4-5 person received a disposition that did not include a commitment to
4-6 the Texas Youth Commission <person's 21st birthday>.
4-7 (b) The duty to register for a person with a reportable
4-8 conviction ends on the 10th anniversary of the date on which the
4-9 person is released from the institutional division of the Texas
4-10 Department of Criminal Justice or <day that> the person discharges
4-11 parole or community supervision, whichever date is later
4-12 <probation>.
4-13 (c) The duty to register for a person with a reportable
4-14 conviction or adjudication based on an order of deferred
4-15 adjudication under Section 1(5)(E) of this article <Act> ends on
4-16 the 10th anniversary of the date on which:
4-17 (1) the court dismisses the criminal proceedings
4-18 against the person and discharges the person; or
4-19 (2) the person is released from the institutional
4-20 division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or the person
4-21 discharges parole or community supervision <probation>, if the
4-22 court proceeded <proceeds> to final adjudication in the case.
4-23 SECTION 6. Article 6252-13c.1, Revised Statutes, is amended
4-24 by adding Section 9A to read as follows:
4-25 Sec. 9A. VERIFICATION OF ADDRESS. (a) On each anniversary
4-26 of the day on which a person first registers under this article, a
4-27 local law enforcement authority with whom the person is required to
5-1 register shall mail a nonforwardable verification form to the last
5-2 reported address of the person.
5-3 (b) Not later than the seventh day after receipt of a
5-4 verification form under Subsection (a) of this section, the person
5-5 shall:
5-6 (1) indicate on the form whether the person still
5-7 resides at the last reported address and, if not, provide on the
5-8 form the person's new address;
5-9 (2) sign the form; and
5-10 (3) return the form to the authority.
5-11 SECTION 7. Section 18, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
5-12 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
5-13 Sec. 18. Confidential Information. (a) Except as provided
5-14 by Subsection (b), all <All> information obtained and maintained in
5-15 connection with inmates of the institutional division subject to
5-16 parole, release to mandatory supervision, or executive clemency, or
5-17 individuals who may be on mandatory supervision or parole and under
5-18 the supervision of the pardons and paroles division, or persons
5-19 directly identified in any proposed plan of release for a prisoner,
5-20 including victim impact statements, lists of inmates eligible for
5-21 parole, and inmates' arrest records, shall be confidential and
5-22 privileged information and shall not be subject to public
5-23 inspection; provided, however, that all such information shall be
5-24 available to the governor, the members of the board, and the
5-25 Criminal Justice Policy Council to perform its duties under Section
5-26 413.021, Government Code, upon request. It is further provided
5-27 that statistical and general information respecting the parole and
6-1 mandatory supervision program and system, including the names of
6-2 paroled prisoners, prisoners released to mandatory supervision, and
6-3 data recorded in connection with parole and mandatory supervision
6-4 services, shall be subject to public inspection at any reasonable
6-5 time.
6-6 (b) This section does not apply to information regarding a
6-7 sex offender if the information is authorized for release under
6-8 Article 6252-13c.1, Revised Statutes.
6-9 SECTION 8. Section 6, Article 6252-13c.1, Revised Statutes,
6-10 is repealed.
6-11 SECTION 9. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the
6-12 change in law made by this Act applies only to a reportable
6-13 conviction or adjudication as defined by Article 6252-13c.1,
6-14 Revised Statutes, that occurs on or after the effective date of
6-15 this Act or to an order of deferred adjudication for a person
6-16 required to register under that article that is entered by the
6-17 court on or after the effective date of this Act. A reportable
6-18 conviction or adjudication that occurs before the effective date of
6-19 this Act or an order of deferred adjudication that is entered
6-20 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
6-21 effect when the conviction or adjudication occurred or the order
6-22 was entered, and the former law is continued in effect for that
6-23 purpose.
6-24 (b) The duty of the Department of Public Safety to destroy
6-25 registration information of a person under Section 6, Article
6-26 6252-13c.1, Revised Statutes, applies only to a person with a
6-27 reportable adjudication who has reached the age of 21 before the
7-1 effective date of this Act.
7-2 (c) The duty of a local law enforcement authority to mail a
7-3 verification form to a person under Section 9A, Article 6252-13c.1,
7-4 Revised Statutes, applies only with regard to a person who first
7-5 registers on or after the effective date of this Act.
7-6 SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
7-7 SECTION 11. The importance of this legislation and the
7-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.