By: Thompson, et al. H.B. No. 2015
       (Senate Sponsor - Van de Putte)
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 18, 2011;
  April 20, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Criminal Justice; May 17, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable
  Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0;
  May 17, 2011, sent to printer.)
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2015 By:  Hegar
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to certain conduct indicating a need for supervision and
  the sealing of records related to that conduct.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 51.03(b), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  Conduct indicating a need for supervision is:
               (1)  subject to Subsection (f), conduct, other than a
  traffic offense, that violates:
                     (A)  the penal laws of this state of the grade of
  misdemeanor that are punishable by fine only; or
                     (B)  the penal ordinances of any political
  subdivision of this state;
               (2)  the absence of a child on 10 or more days or parts
  of days within a six-month period in the same school year or on
  three or more days or parts of days within a four-week period from
  school;
               (3)  the voluntary absence of a child from the child's
  home without the consent of the child's parent or guardian for a
  substantial length of time or without intent to return;
               (4)  conduct prohibited by city ordinance or by state
  law involving the inhalation of the fumes or vapors of paint and
  other protective coatings or glue and other adhesives and the
  volatile chemicals itemized in Section 485.001, Health and Safety
  Code;
               (5)  an act that violates a school district's
  previously communicated written standards of student conduct for
  which the child has been expelled under Section 37.007(c),
  Education Code; [or]
               (6)  conduct that violates a reasonable and lawful
  order of a court entered under Section 264.305; or
               (7)  notwithstanding Subsection (a)(1), conduct
  described by Section 43.02(a)(1) or (2), Penal Code.
         SECTION 2.  Section 58.003, Family Code, is amended by
  adding Subsections (c-3) and (c-4) and amending Subsection (d) to
  read as follows:
         (c-3)  Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (c) and subject
  to Subsection (b), a juvenile court, on the court's own motion and
  without a hearing, shall order the sealing of records concerning a
  child found to have engaged in conduct indicating a need for
  supervision described by Section 51.03(b)(7) or taken into custody
  to determine whether the child engaged in conduct indicating a need
  for supervision described by Section 51.03(b)(7).  This subsection
  applies only to records related to conduct indicating a need for
  supervision described by Section 51.03(b)(7).
         (c-4)  A prosecuting attorney or juvenile probation
  department may maintain until a child's 17th birthday a separate
  record of the child's name and date of birth and the date on which
  the child's records are sealed, if the child's records are sealed
  under Subsection (c-3). The prosecuting attorney or juvenile
  probation department, as applicable, shall send the record to the
  court as soon as practicable after the child's 17th birthday to be
  added to the child's other sealed records.
         (d)  The court may grant to a child the relief authorized in
  Subsection (a), [or] (c-1), or (c-3) at any time after final
  discharge of the child [person] or after the last official action in
  the case if there was no adjudication, subject, if applicable, to
  Subsection (e).  If the child is referred to the juvenile court for
  conduct constituting any offense and at the adjudication hearing
  the child is found to be not guilty of each offense alleged, the
  court shall immediately and without any additional hearing order
  the sealing of all files and records relating to the case.
         SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  conduct that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act.  
  Conduct that occurs before the effective date of this Act is covered
  by the law in effect at the time the conduct occurred, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For the
  purposes of this section, conduct occurs before the effective date
  of this Act if any element of the conduct occurred before that date.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
 
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