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78R6110 PEP-F

By:  Gallegos                                                     S.B. No. 1290



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the consequences of a prosecution or conviction of an 
offense in justice or municipal court and to the disposition of
certain records relating to those prosecutions and convictions.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 12.03, Penal Code, is amended by adding 
Subsection (d) to read as follows:
	(d)(1)  Notwithstanding any other law, after the fifth 
anniversary of the date of final disposition of the matter, a person 
is released from any legal disability or disadvantage resulting 
from the prosecution or conviction of an offense in a justice or 
municipal court.  This subdivision does not apply to an offense that 
involves an act of theft or moral turpitude.
		(2)  A justice or municipal court maintaining a record 
relating to the prosecution and final disposition of a matter with 
respect to which a person is released from any legal disability or 
disadvantage under Subdivision (1) may not release information 
contained in the record and shall take action as necessary to 
destroy the record, regardless of whether the record is maintained 
electronically or otherwise.
		(3)  For purposes of this subsection, "final 
disposition" means a judgment of acquittal, a judgment of 
conviction that has been satisfied, or an order of dismissal.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies to the release from a legal disability or disadvantage 
arising from the commission of an offense, regardless of whether 
the offense is committed before, on, or after the effective date of 
this Act.