By Haggerty H.B. No. 776
77R5999 JMC-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the implementation, operation, and maintenance of the
1-3 criminal justice information system.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Article 60.02(j), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (j) At least once during each five-year period the council
1-8 shall coordinate an examination of the records and operations of
1-9 the criminal justice information system to ensure the accuracy and
1-10 completeness of information in the system and to ensure the
1-11 promptness of information reporting. The state auditor, or other
1-12 appropriate entity selected by the council, shall conduct the
1-13 examination with the cooperation of the council, the Department of
1-14 Public Safety, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The
1-15 Department of Public Safety, the council, and the Texas Department
1-16 of Criminal Justice may examine the records of the agencies
1-17 required to report information to the Department of Public Safety
1-18 or the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The examining entity
1-19 shall submit to the legislature and the council a report that
1-20 summarizes the findings of each examination and contains
1-21 recommendations for improving the system. Not later than the first
1-22 anniversary after the date the examining entity submits its report,
1-23 the Department of Public Safety shall report to the Legislative
1-24 Budget Board, the governor, the state auditor, and the council on
2-1 the department's progress in implementing the examining entity's
2-2 recommendations, including for each recommendation not implemented
2-3 the reason for not implementing the recommendation. The Department
2-4 of Public Safety shall submit a similar report each year following
2-5 the submission of the first report until each of the examining
2-6 entity's recommendations is implemented.
2-7 SECTION 2. Chapter 60, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
2-8 amended by adding Articles 60.20 and 60.21 to read as follows:
2-9 Art. 60.20. INFORMATION RELATED TO NON-FINGERPRINT SUPPORTED
2-10 ACTIONS. On receipt of a report of prosecution or court disposition
2-11 information from a jurisdiction for which corresponding arrest data
2-12 does not exist in the computerized criminal history system, the
2-13 Department of Public Safety shall enter the report into a
2-14 non-fingerprint supported file that is separate from the
2-15 computerized criminal history system. The department shall grant
2-16 access to records in the non-fingerprint supported file that
2-17 include the subject's name or other identifier in the same manner
2-18 as the department is required to grant access to criminal history
2-19 record information under Subchapter F, Chapter 411, Government
2-20 Code. On receipt of a report of arrest information that
2-21 corresponds to a record in the non-fingerprint supported file, the
2-22 department shall transfer the record from the non-fingerprint
2-23 supported file to the computerized criminal history system.
2-24 Art. 60.21. MONITORING TRACKING; INFORMATION SUBMISSION. (a)
2-25 The Department of Information Resources shall monitor the
2-26 development of the corrections tracking system by the Texas
2-27 Department of Criminal Justice to ensure implementation of the
3-1 system not later than June 1, 2005.
3-2 (b) Not later than January 1, 2003, the Department of Public
3-3 Safety shall:
3-4 (1) develop a plan to encourage local criminal justice
3-5 agencies to report criminal history data to the Texas Department of
3-6 Public Safety for inclusion in the computerized criminal history
3-7 system as required by Chapter 60, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
3-8 (2) evaluate the necessity of imposing sanctions on
3-9 local criminal justice agencies that do not report criminal history
3-10 data as required by Chapter 60, Code of Criminal Procedure.
3-11 (c) The Department of Public Safety shall:
3-12 (1) monitor the submission of arrest and disposition
3-13 information by local jurisdictions;
3-14 (2) annually submit to the Legislative Budget Board,
3-15 the governor, the state auditor, and the council a report regarding
3-16 the level of reporting by local jurisdictions; and
3-17 (3) identify local jurisdictions that do not report
3-18 arrest or disposition information or that partially report
3-19 information.
3-20 (d) This article expires December 31, 2005.
3-21 SECTION 3. Sections 411.083(b) and (c), Government Code, are
3-22 amended to read as follows:
3-23 (b) The department shall grant access to criminal history
3-24 record information to:
3-25 (1) criminal justice agencies;
3-26 (2) noncriminal justice agencies authorized by federal
3-27 statute or executive order or by state statute to receive criminal
4-1 history record information;
4-2 (3) the person who is the subject of the criminal
4-3 history record information;
4-4 (4) a person working on a research or statistical
4-5 project that:
4-6 (A) is funded in whole or in part by state
4-7 funds; or
4-8 (B) meets the requirements of Part 22, Title 28,
4-9 Code of Federal Regulations, and is approved by the department;
4-10 [and]
4-11 (5) an individual or an agency that has a specific
4-12 agreement with a criminal justice agency to provide services
4-13 required for the administration of criminal justice under that
4-14 agreement, if the agreement:
4-15 (A) specifically authorizes access to
4-16 information;
4-17 (B) limits the use of information to the
4-18 purposes for which it is given;
4-19 (C) ensures the security and confidentiality of
4-20 the information; and
4-21 (D) provides for sanctions if a requirement
4-22 imposed under Paragraph (A), (B), or (C) is violated;
4-23 (6) a county or district clerk's office; and
4-24 (7) the Office of Court Administration of the Texas
4-25 Judicial System.
4-26 (c) The department may disseminate criminal history record
4-27 information under Subsection (b)(1) only for a criminal justice
5-1 purpose. The department may disseminate criminal history record
5-2 information under Subsection (b)(2) only for a purpose specified in
5-3 the statute or order. The department may disseminate criminal
5-4 history record information under Subsection (b)(4) or (b)(5) only
5-5 for a purpose approved by the department and only under rules
5-6 adopted by the department. The department may disseminate criminal
5-7 history record information under Subsection (b)(6) only to the
5-8 extent necessary for a county or district clerk to perform a duty
5-9 imposed by law to collect and report criminal court disposition
5-10 information. Criminal history record information disseminated to a
5-11 clerk under Subsection (b)(6) may be used by the clerk only to
5-12 ensure that information reported by the clerk to the department is
5-13 accurate and complete. The dissemination of information to a clerk
5-14 under Subsection (b)(6) does not affect the authority of the clerk
5-15 to disclose or use information submitted by the clerk to the
5-16 department. The department may disseminate criminal history record
5-17 information under Subsection (b)(7) only to the extent necessary
5-18 for the office of court administration to perform a duty imposed by
5-19 law to compile court statistics or prepare reports. The office of
5-20 court administration may disclose criminal history record
5-21 information obtained from the department under Subsection (b)(7) in
5-22 a statistic compiled by the office or a report prepared by the
5-23 office, but only in a manner that does not identify the person who
5-24 is the subject of the information.
5-25 SECTION 4. Article 60.02(j), Code of Criminal Procedure, as
5-26 amended by this Act, applies only to recommendations made in a
5-27 report submitted by the state auditor or other examining entity
6-1 under that article on or after the effective date of this Act.
6-2 SECTION 5. Not later than October 1, 2001, the Texas
6-3 Department of Public Safety shall transfer from the computerized
6-4 criminal history system maintained by the department under Chapter
6-5 60, Code of Criminal Procedure, all records of prosecution or court
6-6 disposition information for which corresponding arrest data does
6-7 not exist in the system to a non-fingerprint supported file as
6-8 required by Article 60.20, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by
6-9 this Act.
6-10 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
6-11 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
6-12 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
6-13 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
6-14 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.