HBA-BSM C.S.S.B. 1570 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 1570 By: West, Royce Criminal Jurisprudence 5/4/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, the record of a not guilty verdict may only be expunged by a specific method and not by the standard method of expunction. This may impose an unnecessary burden by limiting the choice of methods whereby a person may seek expunction of the record of such a verdict. C.S.S.B. 1570 sets forth provisions regarding an expunction of arrest records by a court and files following acquittal and establishes requirements for the arresting law enforcement agency to follow in providing such information. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 1570 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require a law enforcement agency that arrested a defendant to provide to a court that is required to enter an order of expunction specified information or an explanation why the information is not provided and to pay any costs associated with providing to the court the information and any other action necessary to obtain the expunction. The bill provides that the defendant or counsel for the defendant is not required to assist the court clerk in preparing copies of the expunction order for delivery or to take any other action necessary to obtain the expunction. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.S.B. 1570 differs from the original bill by requiring a law enforcement agency that arrested the defendant to provide specified information to a court that is required to enter an order of expunction, whereas the original bill authorized a person who has been arrested for commission of either a felony or misdemeanor and who is entitled to have all records and files relating to the arrest expunged to file an ex parte petition for expunction in a district court for the county in which the person was arrested or in the county where the offense was alleged to have occurred.