By Staples                                            S.B. No. 1608
         77R1749 JMC-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the expunction of arrest records and files when an
 1-3     indictment or information is dismissed or quashed.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Article 55.01(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (a)  A person who has been arrested for commission of either
 1-8     a felony or misdemeanor is entitled to have all records and files
 1-9     relating to the arrest expunged if:
1-10                 (1)  the person is tried for the offense for which the
1-11     person was arrested and is:
1-12                       (A)  acquitted by the trial court, except as
1-13     provided by Subsection (c) of this section; or
1-14                       (B)  convicted and subsequently pardoned; or
1-15                 (2)  each of the following conditions exist:
1-16                       (A)  an indictment or information charging the
1-17     person with commission of a felony has not been presented against
1-18     the person for an offense arising out of the transaction for which
1-19     the person was arrested or, if an indictment or information
1-20     charging the person with commission of a felony was presented, the
1-21     indictment or information [it] has been dismissed or quashed, and:
1-22                             (i)  the limitations  period expired before
1-23     the date on which a petition for expunction was filed under Article
1-24     55.02; or
 2-1                             (ii)  [and] the court finds that the
 2-2     indictment or information [it] was dismissed or quashed because the
 2-3     presentment had been made because of mistake, false information, or
 2-4     other similar reason indicating absence of probable cause at the
 2-5     time of the dismissal to believe the person committed the offense
 2-6     or because it was void;
 2-7                       (B)  the person has been released and the charge,
 2-8     if any, has not resulted in a final conviction and is no longer
 2-9     pending and there was no court ordered community supervision under
2-10     Article 42.12 [of this code]; and
2-11                       (C)  the person has not been convicted of a
2-12     felony in the five years preceding the date of the arrest.
2-13           SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies to
2-14     arrest records and files created before, on, or after the effective
2-15     date of this Act.