By Thompson H.B. No. 1179
74R2648 DAK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the fingerprints, photographs, and other records of
1-3 certain delinquent children.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 51.14(c) and (d), Family Code, are
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (c) Except as provided by this subsection, law-enforcement
1-8 files and records concerning a child shall be kept separate from
1-9 files and records of arrests of adults and shall be maintained on a
1-10 local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal
1-11 depository. The law-enforcement files and records of a person who
1-12 is adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct that
1-13 violated a penal law of the grade of felony shall be transferred to
1-14 the Bureau of Identification of the Department of Public Safety and
1-15 may be disseminated by the Texas Crime Information Center to
1-16 law-enforcement personnel, an attorney for the state, and an
1-17 attorney representing the child <from the Texas Youth Commission to
1-18 the Texas Department of Corrections under a determinate sentence
1-19 may be transferred to a central state or federal depository for
1-20 adult records on or after the date of transfer>. If a child has
1-21 been reported as missing by a parent, guardian, or conservator of
1-22 that child, has escaped from the custody of a juvenile detention
1-23 facility, the Texas Youth Commission, or any other agency to which
1-24 the child has been committed, or is the subject of a bench warrant
2-1 or felony arrest warrant issued by a court after the child has fled
2-2 the jurisdiction of the court, any information or records
2-3 concerning that child may be transferred to and disseminated by the
2-4 Texas Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information
2-5 Center.
2-6 (d) Except as provided by Subsection (c) and Article 15.27,
2-7 Code of Criminal Procedure, and except for files and records
2-8 relating to a charge for which a child is transferred under Section
2-9 54.02 of this code to a criminal court for prosecution, the
2-10 law-enforcement files and records are not open to public inspection
2-11 nor may their contents be disclosed to the public, but inspection
2-12 of the files and records is permitted by:
2-13 (1) a juvenile court having the child before it in any
2-14 proceeding;
2-15 (2) an attorney for a party to the proceeding; and
2-16 (3) law-enforcement officers when necessary for the
2-17 discharge of their official duties.
2-18 SECTION 2. Sections 51.15(a) and (b), Family Code, are
2-19 amended to read as follows:
2-20 (a) No child may be fingerprinted without the consent of the
2-21 juvenile court except as provided by this subsection or by
2-22 Subsections (f) and (i) of this section. A child's fingerprints
2-23 may be taken and filed by a law-enforcement officer investigating a
2-24 case if<:>
2-25 <(1)> the child is <15 years of age or older and is>
2-26 referred to the juvenile court for any felony<; or>
2-27 <(2) the child is under 15 years of age and is
3-1 referred to the juvenile court for a felony listed in Section
3-2 53.045(a) of this code>.
3-3 (b) Except as provided in Subsections (h) and (i) of this
3-4 section, no child taken into custody may be photographed without
3-5 the consent of the juvenile court unless<:>
3-6 <(1)> the child is <15 years of age or older and is>
3-7 referred to the juvenile court for a felony<; or>
3-8 <(2) the child is under 15 years of age and is
3-9 referred to the juvenile court for a felony listed in Section
3-10 53.045(a) of this code>.
3-11 SECTION 3. Section 51.15(c), Family Code, as amended by
3-12 Chapters 385, 515, and 576, Acts of the 70th Legislature, Regular
3-13 Session, 1987, is amended to read as follows:
3-14 (c) Except as provided by this subsection, fingerprint and
3-15 photograph files or records of children shall be kept separate from
3-16 those of adults, and fingerprints or photographs known to be those
3-17 of a child shall be maintained on a local basis only and not sent
3-18 to a central state or federal depository. However, fingerprint and
3-19 photograph files or records of a person who is adjudicated as
3-20 having engaged in delinquent conduct that violated a penal law of
3-21 the grade of felony shall be transferred to the Bureau of
3-22 Identification of the Department of Public Safety and may be
3-23 disseminated by the Texas Crime Information Center to law
3-24 enforcement personnel, an attorney for the state, and an attorney
3-25 representing the child <from the Texas Youth Commission to the
3-26 Texas Department of Corrections under a determinate sentence may be
3-27 transferred to adult records on or after the date of transfer>. If
4-1 a child has been reported as missing by a parent, guardian, or
4-2 conservator of that child or a child has escaped from the custody
4-3 of a juvenile detention facility, the Texas Youth Commission, or
4-4 any other agency to which the child has been committed, the child's
4-5 fingerprints and photograph may be sent to and indexed into the
4-6 files of the Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of
4-7 Investigation to aid in the location and identification of the
4-8 child.
4-9 SECTION 4. Section 51.16, Family Code, is amended by adding
4-10 Subsection (m) to read as follows:
4-11 (m) This section applies to the sealing and destruction of
4-12 the files and records of a child without regard to whether the
4-13 child was under the jurisdiction of a juvenile court as a
4-14 delinquent child or alleged delinquent child before, on, or after
4-15 September 1, 1973.
4-16 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
4-17 (b) Sections 1-3 of this Act apply only to conduct that
4-18 occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. Conduct
4-19 violating the penal law of this state occurs on or after the
4-20 effective date of this Act if any element of the violation occurs
4-21 on or after that date.
4-22 (c) Except as provided by Section 4 of this Act, conduct
4-23 that occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by
4-24 the law in effect at the time the conduct occurred, and that law is
4-25 continued in effect for that purpose.
4-26 (d) Sections 1-3 of this Act apply only to fingerprints and
4-27 photographs taken on or after the effective date of this Act.
5-1 Fingerprints or photographs taken before the effective date of this
5-2 Act are governed by the law in effect at the time the fingerprints
5-3 or photographs were taken, and that law is continued in effect for
5-4 that purpose.
5-5 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
5-6 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-7 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-8 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-9 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.