82R3484 AJZ-F

By: Turner H.B. No. 961

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the sealing of and restricting access to juvenile

records of adjudications of delinquent conduct or conduct

indicating a need for supervision.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 58.003(c), Family Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(c) Subject to Subsection (b), a court may order the sealing

of records concerning a person adjudicated as having engaged in

delinquent conduct that violated a penal law of the grade of felony

only if:

(1) the person is 19 [21] years of age or older;

(2) the person was not transferred by a juvenile court

under Section 54.02 to a criminal court for prosecution;

(3) the records have not been used as evidence in the

punishment phase of a criminal proceeding under Section 3(a),

Article 37.07, Code of Criminal Procedure; and

(4) the person has not been convicted of a penal law of

the grade of felony after becoming age 17.

SECTION 2. Section 58.203(a), Family Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(a) The department shall certify to the juvenile probation

department to which a referral was made that resulted in

information being submitted to the juvenile justice information

system that the records relating to a person's juvenile case are

subject to automatic restriction of access if:

(1) the person is at least 17 [21] years of age;

(2) the juvenile case did not include violent or

habitual felony conduct resulting in proceedings in the juvenile

court under Section 53.045; and

(3) the juvenile case was not certified for trial in

criminal court under Section 54.02[; and

[(4) the department has not received a report in its

criminal history system that the person was granted deferred

adjudication for or convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor

punishable by confinement in jail for an offense committed after

the person became 17 years of age].

SECTION 3. Section 58.208, Family Code, is amended to read

as follows:

Sec. 58.208. INFORMATION TO CHILD ON DISCHARGE. On the

final discharge of a child from the juvenile system or on the last

official action in the case, if there is no adjudication, the

appropriate juvenile justice official shall provide to the child:

(1) a written explanation of how automatic restricted

access under this subchapter works;

(2) a copy of this subchapter; and

(3) a statement that if the child wishes to receive

notification of an action restricting access to the child's records

under Section 58.207(a), the child must before the child's 17th

[21st] birthday provide the juvenile probation department with a

current address where the child can receive notification.

SECTION 4. Section 58.209(a), Family Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(a) When a child is placed on probation for an offense that

may be eligible for automatic restricted access at age 17 [21] or

when a child is received by the Texas Youth Commission on an

indeterminate commitment, a probation officer or an official at the

Texas Youth Commission reception center, as soon as practicable,

shall explain the substance of the following information to the

child:

(1) if the child was adjudicated as having committed

delinquent conduct for a felony or jailable misdemeanor, that the

child probably has a juvenile record with the department and the

Federal Bureau of Investigation;

(2) that the child's juvenile record is a permanent

record that is not destroyed or erased unless the record is eligible

for sealing and the child or the child's family hires a lawyer and

files a petition in court to have the record sealed;

(3) that the child's juvenile record, other than

treatment records made confidential by law, can be accessed by

police, sheriff's officers, prosecutors, probation officers,

correctional officers, and other criminal and juvenile justice

officials in this state and elsewhere;

(4) that the child's juvenile record, other than

treatment records made confidential by law, can be accessed by

employers, educational institutions, licensing agencies, and other

organizations when the child applies for employment or educational

programs;

(5) if the child's juvenile record is placed on

restricted access when the child becomes 17 [21] years of age, that

access will be denied to employers, educational institutions, and

others except for criminal justice agencies; and

(6) [that to have the child's juvenile record placed on

restricted access at age 21, the child must not:

[(A) commit a felony or jailable misdemeanor; and

[(B) receive deferred adjudication for or be

convicted in adult court of a felony or jailable misdemeanor; and

[(7)] that restricted access does not require any

action by the child or the child's family, including the filing of a

petition or hiring of a lawyer, but occurs automatically at age 17

[21 if the child does not commit a criminal offense in the future].

SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies to the

sealing of and restricting access to records in the adjudication of

a juvenile case on or after the effective date of this Act,

regardless of whether the adjudication occurred before, on, or

after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2011.