SRC-JBJ H.B. 1140 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research Center H.B. 1140 76R1742 PAM-FBy: Thompson (Armbrister) Criminal Justice 5/12/1999 Engrossed DIGEST Currently, clerks must send a certified copy of each felony judgment of conviction to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and an abstract of the final felony conviction to the voter registrar in the felon's county of residence. This is a duplication of reporting requirements performed by TDCJ, as TDCJ is also required to send felony information to voter registrars of Texas. An additional duplication is that some district clerks enter felony conviction data into their local jury pool and voter registration system, and report this information to the Department of Public Safety (DPS), which stores the information in a statewide data bank. H.B. 1140 would require the DPS, rather than certain clerks, to send an abstract of felony judgment to the voter registrar. PURPOSE As proposed, H.B. 1140 amends regulations regarding a voter registration notice on a person convicted of a felony. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY This bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 16.003, Election Code, to require the Department of Public Safety (DPS), rather than certain clerks, to prepare an abstract of information received under Chapter 60, Code of Criminal Procedure, and to file each abstract with the voter registrar of the person's county of residence within a reasonable period. Deletes text requiring the filing to be within a certain time frame. SECTION 2.Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3.Emergency clause.