79R934 PEP-D
By: West, Royce S.B. No. 1071
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a person's eligibility for an order of nondisclosure
with respect to certain criminal history records and to certain law
enforcement duties that result from the issuance of an order.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 411.081, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (d) and (g) and by adding Subsections (g-1),
(i), and (j) to read as follows:
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter,
if a person is placed on deferred adjudication community
supervision under Section 5, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, subsequently receives a discharge and dismissal under
Section 5(c), Article 42.12, and satisfies the requirements of
Subsection (e), the person may petition the court that placed the
defendant on deferred adjudication for an order of nondisclosure
under this subsection. Except as provided by Subsection (e), a
person may petition the court under this subsection regardless of
whether the person has been previously convicted or placed on
deferred adjudication community supervision for an offense. After
notice to the state and a hearing on whether the person is entitled
to file the petition and issuance of the order is in the best
interest of justice, the court shall issue an order prohibiting
criminal justice agencies from disclosing to the public criminal
history record information related to the offense giving rise to
the deferred adjudication. A criminal justice agency may disclose
criminal history record information that is the subject of the
order only to other criminal justice agencies, an agency listed in
Subsection (i), or to the person who is the subject of the order [an
individual or agency described by Section 411.083(b)(1), (2), or
(3)]. A person may file an ex parte petition with the court that
placed the person on deferred adjudication for an order of
nondisclosure on payment of a $28 fee to the clerk of the court in
addition to any other fee that generally applies to the filing of a
civil petition. The payment may be made only on or after:
(1) the discharge and dismissal, if the offense for
which the person was placed on deferred adjudication was a
misdemeanor other than a misdemeanor described by Subdivision (2);
(2) the second [fifth] anniversary of the discharge
and dismissal, if the offense for which the person was placed on
deferred adjudication was a misdemeanor under Chapter 20, 21, 22,
25, 42, or 46, Penal Code; or
(3) the fifth [10th] anniversary of the discharge and
dismissal, if the offense for which the person was placed on
deferred adjudication was a felony.
(g) When an order of nondisclosure is issued under this
subsection, the clerk of the court shall send a copy of the order by
certified mail, return receipt requested, to the Crime Records
Service of the Department of Public Safety. Not later than 10
business days after receipt of the order, the [The] Department of
Public Safety shall seal any criminal history record information
maintained by the department that is the subject of the order. The
department shall also send a copy of the order by mail or electronic
means to all:
(1) law enforcement agencies, jails or other detention
facilities, magistrates, courts, prosecuting attorneys,
correctional facilities, central state depositories of criminal
records, and other officials or agencies or other entities of this
state or of any political subdivision of this state;
(2) [, and to all] central federal depositories of
criminal records that there is reason to believe have criminal
history record information that is the subject of the order; and
(3) private entities that purchase criminal history
record information from the department.
(g-1) Not later than 30 business days after receipt of an
order from the Department of Public Safety under Subsection (g), an
individual or entity described by Subsection (g)(1) shall seal any
criminal history record information maintained by the individual or
entity that is the subject of the order.
(i) A criminal justice agency may disclose criminal history
record information that is the subject of an order of nondisclosure
to the following noncriminal justice agencies or entities only:
(1) the State Board for Educator Certification;
(2) a school district, charter school, private school,
regional education service center, commercial transportation
company, or education shared service arrangement;
(3) the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners;
(4) the Texas School for the Blind and Visually
Impaired;
(5) the Board of Law Examiners;
(6) the State Bar of Texas;
(7) the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse;
(8) a district court regarding a petition for name
change under Subchapter B, Chapter 45, Family Code;
(9) the Texas School for the Deaf;
(10) the Texas Department of Family and Protective
Services;
(11) the Texas Youth Commission;
(12) the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative
Services;
(13) the Department of State Health Services, a local
mental health service, a local mental retardation authority, or a
community center providing services to persons with mental illness
or retardation;
(14) the Texas Private Security Board;
(15) a municipal or volunteer fire department;
(16) the Board of Nurse Examiners;
(17) a safe house providing shelter to children in
harmful situations;
(18) a public or nonprofit hospital or hospital
district; and
(19) the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission.
(j) If the Department of Public Safety receives information
indicating that a private entity that purchases criminal history
record information from the department has been found by a court to
have committed five or more violations of Section 552.1425,
Government Code, by compiling or disseminating information with
respect to which an order of nondisclosure has been issued, the
department may not release any criminal history record information
to that entity until the first anniversary of the date of the most
recent violation.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act relating to a
person's eligibility for an order of nondisclosure apply to
criminal history record information related to a deferred
adjudication or similar procedure described by Subsection (f),
Section 411.081, Government Code, regardless of whether the
deferred adjudication or procedure is entered before, on, or after
the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.