By Goolsby H.B. No. 155
77R1245 JMC-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the expunction of arrest records by a person in the
1-3 business of publishing or disclosing conviction or arrest
1-4 information and to the creation of an offense prohibiting the use
1-5 or release of certain arrest information by that person.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Section 2(b), Article 55.02, Code of Criminal
1-8 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-9 (b) The petition must be verified and shall include the
1-10 following or an explanation for why one or more of the following is
1-11 not included:
1-12 (1) the petitioner's:
1-13 (A) full name;
1-14 (B) sex;
1-15 (C) race;
1-16 (D) date of birth;
1-17 (E) driver's license number;
1-18 (F) social security number; and
1-19 (G) address at the time of the arrest;
1-20 (2) the offense charged against the petitioner;
1-21 (3) the date the offense charged against the
1-22 petitioner was alleged to have been committed;
1-23 (4) the date the petitioner was arrested;
1-24 (5) the name of the county where the petitioner was
2-1 arrested and if the arrest occurred in a municipality, the name of
2-2 the municipality;
2-3 (6) the name of the agency that arrested the
2-4 petitioner;
2-5 (7) the case number and court of offense; and
2-6 (8) a list of all law enforcement agencies, jails or
2-7 other detention facilities, magistrates, courts, prosecuting
2-8 attorneys, correctional facilities, central state depositories of
2-9 criminal records, and other officials or agencies or other entities
2-10 of this state or of any political subdivision of this state, [and
2-11 of] all central federal depositories of criminal records, and all
2-12 persons in the business of publishing or disclosing conviction or
2-13 arrest information that the petitioner has reason to believe have
2-14 records or files that are subject to expunction.
2-15 SECTION 2. Section 3(c), Article 55.02, Code of Criminal
2-16 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
2-17 (c) When the order of expunction is final, the clerk of the
2-18 court shall send a certified copy of the order by certified mail,
2-19 return receipt requested, to the Crime Records Service of the
2-20 Department of Public Safety and to each person, including each
2-21 official or agency or other entity of this state or of any
2-22 political subdivision of this state, designated by the person who
2-23 is the subject of the order. The Department of Public Safety shall
2-24 notify any central federal depository of criminal records by any
2-25 means, including electronic transmission, of the order with an
2-26 explanation of the effect of the order and a request that the
2-27 records in possession of the depository, including any information
3-1 with respect to the order, be destroyed or returned to the court.
3-2 SECTION 3. Section 5(a), Article 55.02, Code of Criminal
3-3 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
3-4 (a) On receipt of the order, each person, including each
3-5 official or agency or other entity, named in the order shall:
3-6 (1) return all records and files that are subject to
3-7 the expunction order to the court or, if removal is impracticable,
3-8 obliterate all portions of the record or file that identify the
3-9 person who is the subject of the order and notify the court of its
3-10 action; and
3-11 (2) delete from its public records all index
3-12 references to the records and files that are subject to the
3-13 expunction order.
3-14 SECTION 4. Section 411.135, Government Code, is amended by
3-15 amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
3-16 follows:
3-17 (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a [A] person who
3-18 obtains information from the department under Subsection (a) may:
3-19 (1) use the information for any purpose; or
3-20 (2) release the information to any other person.
3-21 (d) A person in the business of publishing or disclosing
3-22 conviction or arrest information commits an offense if in the
3-23 course of business the person uses or releases arrest information
3-24 that the person obtained from the department under Subsection (a)
3-25 and that the person knows is derived from a record or file that is
3-26 the subject of an expunction order issued under Article 55.02, Code
3-27 of Criminal Procedure. An offense under this subsection is a Class
4-1 B misdemeanor.
4-2 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
4-3 applies only to a petition for expunction filed on or after that
4-4 date.