87R1191 E
 
  By: Krause H.B. No. 1190
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the procedures required before an individual's name is
  added to the central child abuse or neglect registry.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 261.002, Family Code, is amended by
  adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) and amending Subsection (b) to
  read as follows:
         (a-1)  Except as provided by Subsection (a-2), the
  department may not add to the central registry maintained under
  this section the name of an individual found by the department to
  have abused or neglected a child unless the department's finding is
  sustained by an administrative law judge at an administrative
  hearing before the State Office of Administrative Hearings under
  Section 261.0021.
         (a-2)  The department may add the name of an individual to
  the central registry maintained under this section without an
  administrative hearing under Section 261.0021 if in a civil,
  criminal, administrative, or juvenile proceeding in which the
  allegations of abuse or neglect are at issue, a court finds the
  individual abused or neglected a child.
         (b)  The [executive] commissioner shall adopt rules
  necessary to carry out this section. The rules shall:
               (1)  prohibit the department from making a finding of
  abuse or neglect against a person in a case in which the department
  is named managing conservator of a child who has a severe emotional
  disturbance only because the child's family is unable to obtain
  mental health services for the child;
               (2)  establish guidelines for reviewing the records in
  the registry and removing those records in which the department was
  named managing conservator of a child who has a severe emotional
  disturbance only because the child's family was unable to obtain
  mental health services for the child;
               (3)  require the department to remove a person's name
  from the central registry maintained under this section not later
  than the 10th business day after the date the department receives
  notice that a finding of abuse and neglect against the person is
  overturned in:
                     (A)  an administrative review or an appeal of the
  review conducted under Section 261.309(c);
                     (B)  a review or an appeal of the review conducted
  by the office of consumer affairs of the department; or
                     (C)  a hearing or an appeal conducted by the State
  Office of Administrative Hearings; and
               (4)  require the department to update any relevant
  department files to reflect an overturned finding of abuse or
  neglect against a person not later than the 10th business day after
  the date the finding is overturned in a review, hearing, or appeal
  described by Subdivision (3).
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 261, Family Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 261.0021 and 261.0022 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 261.0021.  PROCEDURES FOR ADDING ALLEGED OFFENDERS TO
  CENTRAL REGISTRY; ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING. (a) Not later than the
  14th day after the date the department makes a finding that an
  individual abused or neglected a child, the department shall:
               (1)  submit a request for a hearing to the State Office
  of Administrative Hearings; and
               (2)  provide written notice to the individual that the
  department intends to add the individual's name and information
  regarding the reported case of abuse or neglect to the central
  registry maintained under Section 261.002.
         (b)  The notice required by Subsection (a)(2) must include:
               (1)  a clear statement of the specific allegations that
  will be added to the central registry, including:
                     (A)  the name of the alleged victim;
                     (B)  the injury or harm alleged to have resulted
  from the abuse or neglect; and
                     (C)  the date the report of abuse or neglect was
  made to the department;
               (2)  the consequences of being listed in the central
  registry, including any possible negative impact on the
  individual's ability to obtain employment or certain licenses and
  to have future contact with children, including any limitation on
  volunteering or involvement in school activities; 
               (3)  the length of the time the individual's name may be
  included in the registry; 
               (4)  a copy of the information that will be added to the
  registry;
               (5)  confirmation that the department has requested a
  hearing before the State Office of Administrative Hearings to
  review the department's findings; and
               (6)  the contact information for the State Office of
  Administrative Hearings.
         (c)  On receipt of a request for a hearing from the
  department regarding its intention to list an alleged offender in
  the central registry, the State Office of Administrative Hearings
  shall contact the parties to schedule a date for the hearing. The
  hearing shall be held not later than the 60th day after the date the
  department issues its findings.
         (d)  The alleged offender has the right to be represented by
  an attorney at the hearing. If the alleged offender is indigent the
  State Office of Administrative Hearings shall appoint an attorney
  to represent the alleged offender at the hearing.
         (e)  Before the hearing, the department shall provide the
  alleged offender with the department's complete investigative file
  and any exculpatory evidence the department possesses or controls.
         (f)  At the hearing, the alleged offender may:
               (1)  present sworn evidence, law, or rules related to
  the allegations; and 
               (2)  subpoena witnesses, cross-examine the
  department's witnesses, introduce evidence, object to evidence
  introduced by the department, and make an opening and a closing
  argument.
         (g)  Not later than the 30th day after the date the hearing
  concludes, the presiding administrative law judge shall enter an
  order containing the judge's written findings of fact and
  conclusions of law. The burden of proof is on the department to
  establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the alleged
  offender abused or neglected the child.
         (h)  If the presiding administrative law judge enters an
  order under Subsection (g) that sustains the department's findings,
  the department shall enter the alleged offender's information into
  the central registry. The department shall maintain the information
  in the registry for a period proportionate to the severity of the
  offense. The department may not retain the information in the
  registry after the 10th anniversary of the date the abuse or neglect
  occurred.
         (i)  If the presiding administrative law judge enters an
  order under Subsection (g) that does not sustain the department's
  findings, the judge shall order the department to amend the
  department's findings accordingly and the department may not enter
  the allegations into the central registry.
         (j)  A hearing under this section is a contested case under
  Chapter 2001, Government Code, and the administrative law judge's
  decision is subject to judicial review as provided by that chapter.
  The district court with jurisdiction over child protection cases in
  the county in which the alleged abuse or neglect occurred has
  jurisdiction to review the administrative law judge's decision. A
  party may file a motion to transfer the judicial review case to a
  district court with jurisdiction over child protection cases in
  another county. The district court, for good cause shown, may grant
  the motion to transfer.
         (k)  The department may not add an alleged offender to the
  central registry or release information to any third party until
  all appeals are either exhausted or waived. 
         (l)  The Texas Rules of Civil Procedure apply to a proceeding
  under this section.
         Sec. 261.0022.  PROCEDURES FOR REMOVING ALLEGED OFFENDER
  FROM CENTRAL REGISTRY. (a) An individual listed in the central
  registry maintained under Section 261.002 may request to have the
  individual's name and information removed from the registry by
  submitting a written request to the State Office of Administrative
  Hearings accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by a person with
  personal knowledge stating facts sufficient to show there is good
  cause for a hearing on the issue of whether the individual abused or
  neglected a child. Good cause for a hearing includes: 
               (1)  newly discovered evidence that a substantiated
  report of child abuse or neglect is inaccurate; or 
               (2)  evidence that:
                     (A)  the individual no longer poses a risk; and 
                     (B)  no significant public purpose is served by
  continuing to list the individual in the registry.
         (b)  Except for the affidavit required by Subsection (a), a
  written request to remove information from the central registry
  submitted under this section may be in any form. 
         (c)  Before a hearing is held under this section, the
  department may remove from the central registry the name and
  information of an individual listed in the registry.
         (d)  A hearing requested under this section shall be
  conducted in the same manner as a hearing conducted under Section
  261.0021. 
         (e)  An individual who is listed in the central registry may
  not request to have the information removed from the registry
  before the second anniversary of the date the information is added
  to the registry.
         (e-1)  Notwithstanding Subsection (e), an individual listed
  in the central registry on September 1, 2021, may request to have
  the individual's name and information removed from the registry as
  provided by this section. This subsection expires September 1,
  2023.
         (f)  An individual whose request to remove information from
  the central registry under this section is denied may not make a
  subsequent request to have the information removed from the
  registry before the second anniversary of the date the request for
  removal is denied.
         (g)  The Texas Rules of Civil Procedure apply to a proceeding
  under this section. 
         SECTION 3.  Section 261.103, Family Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
         (d)  The department or other entity receiving a report of
  abuse or neglect that is not substantiated in the manner described
  by Section 261.002(a-2) or as provided by Section 261.0021 shall
  maintain information relating to the report until the second
  anniversary of the date the department or other entity receives the
  report.
         SECTION 4.  The changes in law made by this Act by amending
  Section 261.002, Family Code, and adding Section 261.0021, Family
  Code, apply only to a finding that an individual abused or neglected
  a child made by the Department of Family and Protective Services on
  or after the effective date of this Act. A finding made by the
  department before that date is governed by the law in effect on the
  date the finding was made, and the former law is continued in effect
  for that purpose.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.