By Madla                                        S.B. No. 1062

      75R8744 SAW-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to expunction of certain records of the Texas Department

 1-3     of Insurance.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Chapter 1, Insurance Code, is amended by adding

 1-6     Article 1.10F to read as follows:

 1-7           Art. 1.10F.  EXPUNCTION OF CERTAIN RECORDS.  (a)  In this

 1-8     article, "person" means an individual, corporation, organization,

 1-9     government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust,

1-10     estate, trust, partnership, association, or any other legal entity.

1-11           (b)  A person is entitled to expunction of  department

1-12     records  relating to a violation by the person of an article of

1-13     this code, a rule adopted under this code, or any other law related

1-14     to the practice of insurance in this state if:

1-15                 (1)  the person has not committed another violation

1-16     during the six years following the date of the violation;

1-17                 (2)  the violation did not injure a policyholder or an

1-18     insurance company; and

1-19                 (3)  the violation did not involve fraud or criminal

1-20     activity.

1-21           (c)  A person who is entitled to expunction of a record under

1-22     Subsection (b) of this article may file a petition for expunction

1-23     with the commissioner.

1-24           (d)  A person who files a petition for expunction of a

 2-1     department record shall pay at the time of filing the petition an

 2-2     expunction fee in an amount, not to exceed $250, as determined by

 2-3     the commissioner.

 2-4           (e)  Not earlier than the 90th day or later than the 180th

 2-5     day after the date of the filing of a petition for expunction, the

 2-6     commissioner shall hold a hearing on the matter.  The commissioner

 2-7     shall give notice of the hearing to appropriate parties not later

 2-8     than the 21st day before the date of the hearing.

 2-9           (f)  If the commissioner finds that the person is entitled to

2-10     expunction of any department record under Subsection (b) of this

2-11     article, the commissioner shall issue an expunction order.

2-12           (g)  After issuance of an expunction order:

2-13                 (1)  the release, dissemination, or use of the expunged

2-14     record for any purpose is prohibited;

2-15                 (2)  the person for whom the commissioner grants

2-16     expunction may deny the occurrence of the violation and the

2-17     existence of the expunction order; and

2-18                 (3)  the person for whom the commissioner grants

2-19     expunction, when questioned under oath in a criminal proceeding

2-20     about a violation for which the records have been expunged, may

2-21     state only that the matter in question has been expunged.

2-22           (h)  The commissioner shall adopt reasonable rules to

2-23     implement this article.

2-24           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-25           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-26     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-27     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-1     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-2     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.