80R12923 UM-F
 
  By: Farabee H.B. No. 2485
 
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2485:
 
  By:  Heflin C.S.H.B. No. 2485
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to county accounting procedures regarding certain audits,
debts, and records.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Section 5, Article 55.02, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (d) and
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
       (a)  Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (f) and
(g), on receipt of the order, each official or agency or other
entity named in the order shall:
             (1)  return all records and files that are subject to
the expunction order to the court or, if removal is impracticable,
obliterate all portions of the record or file that identify the
person who is the subject of the order and notify the court of its
action; and
             (2)  delete from its public records all index
references to the records and files that are subject to the
expunction order.
       (c)  Except in the case of a person who is the subject of an
expunction order based on an entitlement under Article 55.01(d) and
except as provided by Subsection (g), if an order of expunction is
issued under this article, the court records concerning expunction
proceedings are not open for inspection by anyone except the person
who is the subject of the order unless the order permits retention
of a record under Section 4 of this article and the person is again
arrested for or charged with an offense arising out of the
transaction for which the person was arrested or unless the court
provides for the retention of records and files under Section 4(a)
of this article. The clerk of the court issuing the order shall
obliterate all public references to the proceeding and maintain the
files or other records in an area not open to inspection.
       (d)  Except in the case of a person who is the subject of an
expunction order on the basis of an acquittal or an expunction order
based on an entitlement under Article 55.01(d) and except as
provided by Subsection (g), the clerk of the court shall destroy all
the files or other records maintained under Subsection (c) not
earlier than the 60th day after the date the order of expunction is
issued or later than the first anniversary of that date unless the
records or files were released under Subsection (b).
       (g)  Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, an
official, agency, court, or other entity may retain receipts,
invoices, vouchers, or similar records of financial transactions
that arose from the expunction proceeding or prosecution of the
underlying criminal cause in accordance with internal financial
control procedures. An official, agency, court, or other entity
that retains records under this subsection shall obliterate all
portions of the record or the file that identify the person who is
the subject of the expunction order.
       SECTION 2.  Article 59.06(g), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
       (g)(1)  All law enforcement agencies and attorneys
representing the state who receive proceeds or property under this
chapter shall account for the seizure, forfeiture, receipt, and
specific expenditure of all such proceeds and property in an audit,
which is to be performed annually by the commissioners court or
governing body of a municipality, as appropriate. The annual
period of the audit for a law enforcement agency is the fiscal year
of the appropriate county or municipality and the annual period for
an attorney representing the state is the state fiscal year. The
audit shall be completed on a form provided by the attorney general.
Certified copies of the audit shall be delivered by the law
enforcement agency or attorney representing the state to the
comptroller's office and the attorney general not later than the
60th [30th] day after the date on which the annual period that is
the subject of the audit ends.
             (2)  If a copy of the audit is not delivered to the
attorney general within the period required by Subdivision (1),
within five days after the end of the period the attorney general
shall notify the law enforcement agency or the attorney
representing the state of that fact. On a showing of good cause,
the attorney general may grant an extension permitting the agency
or attorney to deliver a copy of the audit after the period required
by Subdivision (1) and before the 76th [46th] day after the date on
which the annual period that is the subject of the audit ends. If
the law enforcement agency or the attorney representing the state
fails to establish good cause for not delivering the copy of the
audit within the period required by Subdivision (1) or fails to
deliver a copy of an audit within the extension period, the attorney
general shall notify the comptroller of that fact. On notice under
this subdivision, the comptroller shall perform the audit otherwise
required by Subdivision (1). At the conclusion of the audit, the
comptroller shall forward a copy of the audit to the attorney
general. The law enforcement agency or attorney representing the
state is liable to the comptroller for the costs of the comptroller
in performing the audit.
       SECTION 3.  Section 154.025, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 154.025.  DISBURSEMENTS TO PERSONS WITH OUTSTANDING
DEBT PROHIBITED.  (a)  In this section, "debt" includes delinquent
taxes, fines, fees, and indebtedness arising from written
agreements with the county.
       (b)  If notice of indebtedness has been filed with the county
auditor and county treasurer evidencing the indebtedness of a
person to the state, the county, or a salary fund, a warrant may not
be drawn on a county fund in favor of a person, or an agent or
assignee of a person, until:
             (1)  the county treasurer, or the county auditor in a
county without a county treasurer, notifies in writing the person
owing the debt [is notified] that the debt is outstanding; and
             (2)  the debt is paid.
       (c)  A county may apply any funds the county owes a person to
the outstanding balance of debt for which notice is made under
Subsection (b)(1), if the notice includes a statement that the
amount owed by the county to the person may be applied to reduce the
outstanding debt.
       (d)  A county may include a notice in its forms, bonds, or
other agreements stating that the county may offset payments to a
person in accordance with this section.
       SECTION 4.  Section 154.045, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 154.045.  DISBURSEMENTS TO PERSON WITH OUTSTANDING DEBT
PROHIBITED.  (a)  In this section, "debt" includes delinquent
taxes, fines, fees, and indebtedness arising from written
agreements with the county.
       (b)  If a notice of indebtedness has been filed with the
county auditor or county treasurer evidencing the indebtedness of a
person to the state, the county, or a salary fund, a warrant may not
be drawn on a county fund in favor of the person, or an agent or
assignee of the person, until:
             (1)  the county treasurer, or the county auditor in a
county without a county treasurer, notifies in writing the person
owing the debt [is notified] that the debt is outstanding; and
             (2)  the debt is paid.
       (c)  A county may apply any funds the county owes a person to
the outstanding balance of debt for which notice is made under
Subsection (b)(1), if the notice includes a statement that the
amount owed by the county to the person may be applied to reduce the
outstanding debt.
       (d)  A county may include a notice in its forms, bonds, or
other agreements stating that the county may offset payments to a
person in accordance with this section.
       SECTION 5.  (a)   The changes in law made by this Act to
Chapter 55, Code of Criminal Procedure, apply only to an expunction
order received on or after the effective date of this Act.
       (b)  Article 59.06(g), Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended by this Act, applies only to an audit performed on or after
the effective date of this Act.
       SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.