By Patterson S.B. No. 229
74R190 JMM-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to access to the files and records of certain children.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 51.14, Family Code, is amended to read as
1-5 follows:
1-6 Sec. 51.14. Files and Records. (a) Except as provided <by
1-7 Subsection (e) of this section, or> by Article 15.27, Code of
1-8 Criminal Procedure, all files and records of a juvenile court, a
1-9 clerk of court, or a prosecuting attorney relating to a child who
1-10 is a party to a proceeding under this title are open to inspection
1-11 only by:
1-12 (1) the judge, probation officers, and professional
1-13 staff or consultants of the juvenile court;
1-14 (2) an attorney for a party to the proceeding;
1-15 (3) a public or private agency or institution
1-16 providing supervision of the child by arrangement of the juvenile
1-17 court, or having custody of the child under juvenile court order;
1-18 <or>
1-19 (4) a law enforcement officer as necessary for the
1-20 discharge of the officer's official duties;
1-21 (5) a prosecuting attorney, including a prosecuting
1-22 attorney in a criminal proceeding; or
1-23 (6) with leave of juvenile court, any other person,
1-24 agency, or institution having a legitimate interest in the
2-1 proceeding or in the work of the court.
2-2 (b) All files and records of a public or private agency or
2-3 institution providing supervision of a child by arrangement of the
2-4 juvenile court or having custody of the child under order of the
2-5 juvenile court are open to inspection only by:
2-6 (1) the professional staff or consultants of the
2-7 agency or institution;
2-8 (2) the judge, probation officers, and professional
2-9 staff or consultants of the juvenile court;
2-10 (3) an attorney for the child or a prosecuting
2-11 attorney, including a prosecuting attorney in a criminal
2-12 proceeding;
2-13 (4) with leave of the juvenile court, any other
2-14 person, agency, or institution having a legitimate interest in the
2-15 work of the agency or institution; <or>
2-16 (5) the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
2-17 <Corrections>, the Department of Public Safety, and the Texas
2-18 Juvenile Probation Commission, for the purpose of maintaining
2-19 statistical records of recidivism, and for diagnosis and
2-20 classification; or
2-21 (6) a law enforcement officer as necessary for the
2-22 discharge of the officer's official duties.
2-23 (c) Except as provided by this subsection, law-enforcement
2-24 files and records concerning a child shall be kept separate from
2-25 files and records of arrests of adults and shall be maintained on a
2-26 local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal
2-27 depository. The law-enforcement files and records of a person who
3-1 is transferred from the Texas Youth Commission to the Texas
3-2 Department of Criminal Justice <Corrections> under a determinate
3-3 sentence may be transferred to a central state or federal
3-4 depository for adult records on or after the date of transfer. If
3-5 a child has been reported as missing by a parent, guardian, or
3-6 conservator of that child, has escaped from the custody of a
3-7 juvenile detention facility, the Texas Youth Commission, or any
3-8 other agency to which the child has been committed, or is the
3-9 subject of a bench warrant or felony arrest warrant issued by a
3-10 court after the child has fled the jurisdiction of the court, any
3-11 information or records concerning that child may be transferred to
3-12 and disseminated by the Texas Crime Information Center and the
3-13 National Crime Information Center.
3-14 (d) Except as provided by Article 15.27, Code of Criminal
3-15 Procedure, and except for files and records relating to a charge
3-16 for which a child is transferred under Section 54.02 of this code
3-17 to a criminal court for prosecution, the law-enforcement files and
3-18 records are not open to public inspection nor may their contents be
3-19 disclosed to the public, but inspection of the files and records is
3-20 permitted by:
3-21 (1) a juvenile court having the child before it in any
3-22 proceeding;
3-23 (2) an attorney for a party to the proceeding,
3-24 including the prosecuting attorney; <and>
3-25 (3) law-enforcement officers when necessary for the
3-26 discharge of their official duties; and
3-27 (4) a prosecuting attorney, including a prosecuting
4-1 attorney in a criminal proceeding.
4-2 (e) For the purpose of offering a record as evidence in the
4-3 punishment phase of a criminal proceeding, the <a> prosecuting
4-4 attorney in the criminal proceeding may obtain the record of a
4-5 defendant's adjudication that is admissible under Section 3(a),
4-6 Article 37.07, Code of Criminal Procedure, by submitting a request
4-7 for the record to the juvenile court. If the court has a record to
4-8 which the prosecuting attorney is entitled under this section, the
4-9 court shall certify a copy of the record and issue it to the
4-10 prosecuting attorney. Otherwise, the court shall notify the
4-11 prosecuting attorney that it does not have a record to which the
4-12 attorney is entitled under this section.
4-13 (f) <(e)> This section does not apply to files and records
4-14 relating to a child that are required or authorized to be
4-15 maintained under the laws regulating the operation of motor
4-16 vehicles in this state.
4-17 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
4-18 SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
4-19 only to files and records created with regard to conduct that
4-20 occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. Conduct
4-21 violating a penal law of the state occurs on or after the effective
4-22 date of this Act if every element of the violation occurs on or
4-23 after that date.
4-24 (b) The files and records created with regard to conduct
4-25 that occurs before the effective date of this Act are covered by
4-26 the law in effect at the time the conduct occurred, and the former
4-27 law is continued in effect for that purpose.
5-1 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.