1-1 By: Haggerty (Senate Sponsor - Staples) H.B. No. 776
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 2001;
1-3 May 7, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
1-4 Justice; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the implementation, operation, and maintenance of the
1-9 criminal justice information system.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Article 60.02(j), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-12 amended to read as follows:
1-13 (j) At least once during each five-year period the council
1-14 shall coordinate an examination of the records and operations of
1-15 the criminal justice information system to ensure the accuracy and
1-16 completeness of information in the system and to ensure the
1-17 promptness of information reporting. The state auditor, or other
1-18 appropriate entity selected by the council, shall conduct the
1-19 examination with the cooperation of the council, the Department of
1-20 Public Safety, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The
1-21 Department of Public Safety, the council, and the Texas Department
1-22 of Criminal Justice may examine the records of the agencies
1-23 required to report information to the Department of Public Safety
1-24 or the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The examining entity
1-25 shall submit to the legislature and the council a report that
1-26 summarizes the findings of each examination and contains
1-27 recommendations for improving the system. Not later than the first
1-28 anniversary after the date the examining entity submits its report,
1-29 the Department of Public Safety shall report to the Legislative
1-30 Budget Board, the governor, the state auditor, and the council on
1-31 the department's progress in implementing the examining entity's
1-32 recommendations, including for each recommendation not implemented
1-33 the reason for not implementing the recommendation. The Department
1-34 of Public Safety shall submit a similar report each year following
1-35 the submission of the first report until each of the examining
1-36 entity's recommendations is implemented.
1-37 SECTION 2. Chapter 60, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-38 amended by adding Articles 60.20 and 60.21 to read as follows:
1-39 Art. 60.20. INFORMATION RELATED TO NON-FINGERPRINT SUPPORTED
1-40 ACTIONS. On receipt of a report of prosecution or court disposition
1-41 information from a jurisdiction for which corresponding arrest data
1-42 does not exist in the computerized criminal history system, the
1-43 Department of Public Safety shall enter the report into a
1-44 non-fingerprint supported file that is separate from the
1-45 computerized criminal history system. The department shall grant
1-46 access to records in the non-fingerprint supported file that
1-47 include the subject's name or other identifier in the same manner
1-48 as the department is required to grant access to criminal history
1-49 record information under Subchapter F, Chapter 411, Government
1-50 Code. On receipt of a report of arrest information that
1-51 corresponds to a record in the non-fingerprint supported file, the
1-52 department shall transfer the record from the non-fingerprint
1-53 supported file to the computerized criminal history system.
1-54 Art. 60.21. MONITORING TRACKING; INFORMATION SUBMISSION. (a)
1-55 The Department of Information Resources shall monitor the
1-56 development of the corrections tracking system by the Texas
1-57 Department of Criminal Justice to ensure implementation of the
1-58 system not later than June 1, 2005.
1-59 (b) Not later than January 1, 2003, the Department of Public
1-60 Safety shall:
1-61 (1) develop a plan to encourage local criminal justice
1-62 agencies to report criminal history data to the Texas Department of
1-63 Public Safety for inclusion in the computerized criminal history
1-64 system as required by Chapter 60, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
2-1 (2) evaluate the necessity of imposing sanctions on
2-2 local criminal justice agencies that do not report criminal history
2-3 data as required by Chapter 60, Code of Criminal Procedure.
2-4 (c) The Department of Public Safety shall:
2-5 (1) monitor the submission of arrest and disposition
2-6 information by local jurisdictions;
2-7 (2) annually submit to the Legislative Budget Board,
2-8 the governor, the state auditor, and the council a report regarding
2-9 the level of reporting by local jurisdictions; and
2-10 (3) identify local jurisdictions that do not report
2-11 arrest or disposition information or that partially report
2-12 information.
2-13 (d) This article expires December 31, 2005.
2-14 SECTION 3. Sections 411.083(b) and (c), Government Code, are
2-15 amended to read as follows:
2-16 (b) The department shall grant access to criminal history
2-17 record information to:
2-18 (1) criminal justice agencies;
2-19 (2) noncriminal justice agencies authorized by federal
2-20 statute or executive order or by state statute to receive criminal
2-21 history record information;
2-22 (3) the person who is the subject of the criminal
2-23 history record information;
2-24 (4) a person working on a research or statistical
2-25 project that:
2-26 (A) is funded in whole or in part by state
2-27 funds; or
2-28 (B) meets the requirements of Part 22, Title 28,
2-29 Code of Federal Regulations, and is approved by the department;
2-30 [and]
2-31 (5) an individual or an agency that has a specific
2-32 agreement with a criminal justice agency to provide services
2-33 required for the administration of criminal justice under that
2-34 agreement, if the agreement:
2-35 (A) specifically authorizes access to
2-36 information;
2-37 (B) limits the use of information to the
2-38 purposes for which it is given;
2-39 (C) ensures the security and confidentiality of
2-40 the information; and
2-41 (D) provides for sanctions if a requirement
2-42 imposed under Paragraph (A), (B), or (C) is violated;
2-43 (6) a county or district clerk's office; and
2-44 (7) the Office of Court Administration of the Texas
2-45 Judicial System.
2-46 (c) The department may disseminate criminal history record
2-47 information under Subsection (b)(1) only for a criminal justice
2-48 purpose. The department may disseminate criminal history record
2-49 information under Subsection (b)(2) only for a purpose specified in
2-50 the statute or order. The department may disseminate criminal
2-51 history record information under Subsection (b)(4) or (b)(5) only
2-52 for a purpose approved by the department and only under rules
2-53 adopted by the department. The department may disseminate criminal
2-54 history record information under Subsection (b)(6) only to the
2-55 extent necessary for a county or district clerk to perform a duty
2-56 imposed by law to collect and report criminal court disposition
2-57 information. Criminal history record information disseminated to a
2-58 clerk under Subsection (b)(6) may be used by the clerk only to
2-59 ensure that information reported by the clerk to the department is
2-60 accurate and complete. The dissemination of information to a clerk
2-61 under Subsection (b)(6) does not affect the authority of the clerk
2-62 to disclose or use information submitted by the clerk to the
2-63 department. The department may disseminate criminal history record
2-64 information under Subsection (b)(7) only to the extent necessary
2-65 for the office of court administration to perform a duty imposed by
2-66 law to compile court statistics or prepare reports. The office of
2-67 court administration may disclose criminal history record
2-68 information obtained from the department under Subsection (b)(7) in
2-69 a statistic compiled by the office or a report prepared by the
3-1 office, but only in a manner that does not identify the person who
3-2 is the subject of the information.
3-3 SECTION 4. Article 60.02(j), Code of Criminal Procedure, as
3-4 amended by this Act, applies only to recommendations made in a
3-5 report submitted by the state auditor or other examining entity
3-6 under that article on or after the effective date of this Act.
3-7 SECTION 5. Not later than October 1, 2001, the Texas
3-8 Department of Public Safety shall transfer from the computerized
3-9 criminal history system maintained by the department under Chapter
3-10 60, Code of Criminal Procedure, all records of prosecution or court
3-11 disposition information for which corresponding arrest data does
3-12 not exist in the system to a non-fingerprint supported file as
3-13 required by Article 60.20, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by
3-14 this Act.
3-15 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
3-16 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
3-17 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
3-18 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
3-19 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
3-20 * * * * *