H.B. No. 171
AN ACT
relating to the authority of a district court to order the
expunction of arrest records and files for certain persons.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1, Article 55.02, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1. At the request of the defendant and after notice to
the state [and a hearing], the trial court presiding over the case
in which the defendant was acquitted, if the trial court is a
district court, or a district court in the county in which the trial
court is located shall enter an order of expunction for a person
entitled to expunction under Article 55.01(a)(1)(A) not later than
the 30th day after the date of the acquittal. Upon acquittal, the
trial court shall advise the defendant of the right to expunction.
The defendant shall provide to the district court all of the
information required in a petition for expunction under Section
2(b). The attorney for the defendant in the case in which the
defendant was acquitted, if the defendant was represented by
counsel, or the attorney for the state, if the defendant was not
represented by counsel, shall prepare the order for the court's
signature.
SECTION 2. Sections 3(a) and (b), Article 55.02, Code of
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) In an order of expunction issued under this article, the
[trial] court shall require any state agency that sent information
concerning the arrest to a central federal depository to request
the [such] depository to return all records and files subject to the
order of expunction. The person who is the subject of the
expunction order or an agency protesting the expunction may appeal
the court's decision in the same manner as in other civil cases.
(b) The order of expunction entered by the [trial] court
shall have attached and incorporate by reference a copy of the
judgment of acquittal and shall include:
(1) the following information on the person who is the
subject of the expunction order:
(A) full name;
(B) sex;
(C) race;
(D) date of birth;
(E) driver's license number; and
(F) social security number;
(2) the offense charged against the person who is the
subject of the expunction order;
(3) the date the person who is the subject of the
expunction order was arrested;
(4) the case number and court of offense; and
(5) the tracking incident number (TRN) assigned to the
individual incident of arrest under Article 60.07(b)(1) by the
Department of Public Safety.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and
applies only to a request for expunction made on or after that date.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 171 was passed by the House on April
1, 2003, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 171 was passed by the Senate on May
28, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor