88R973 LHC-D
 
  By: Wu H.B. No. 503
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the jurisdiction of a juvenile court over certain
  persons and to the sealing and nondisclosure of certain juvenile
  records.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 51.0412, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 51.0412.  JURISDICTION OVER INCOMPLETE PROCEEDINGS.
  The court retains jurisdiction over a person, without regard to the
  age of the person, who is a respondent in an adjudication
  proceeding, a disposition proceeding, a proceeding to modify
  disposition, a proceeding for waiver of jurisdiction and transfer
  to criminal court under Section 54.02(a), or a motion for transfer
  of determinate sentence probation to an appropriate district court
  if:
               (1)  the petition or motion was filed while the
  respondent was younger than 18 or 19 years of age, as applicable;
               (2)  the proceeding is not complete before the
  respondent becomes 18 or 19 years of age, as applicable; and
               (3)  the court enters a finding in the proceeding that:
                     (A)  the prosecuting attorney exercised due
  diligence in an attempt to complete the proceeding before the
  respondent became 18 or 19 years of age, as applicable; or
                     (B)  the proceeding has been delayed through no
  fault of the state.
         SECTION 2.  Section 58.256, Family Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read
  as follows:
         (d)  A court may not order the sealing of the records of a
  person who:
               (1)  received a determinate sentence and was
  transferred to district court under Section 54.051 or 54.11 [for
  engaging in:
                     [(A)  delinquent conduct that violated a penal law
  listed under Section 53.045; or
                     [(B)  habitual felony conduct as described by
  Section 51.031];
               (2)  is currently required to register as a sex
  offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure; or
               (3)  was committed to the Texas Juvenile Justice
  Department or to a post-adjudication secure correctional facility
  under former Section 54.04011, unless the person has been
  discharged from the agency to which the person was committed.
         (e)  Except as provided by Subsection (f), on [On] receipt of
  an application under this section, the court may:
               (1)  order the sealing of the person's records
  immediately, without a hearing; or
               (2)  hold a hearing under Section 58.257 at the court's
  discretion to determine whether to order the sealing of the
  person's records.
         (f)  On receipt of an application under this section from a
  person who received a determinate sentence and was not transferred
  to a district court under Section 54.051 or 54.11, the court shall
  hold a hearing under Section 58.257 to determine whether it is in
  the best interest of the person and of justice to order the sealing
  of the person's records and may order the records to be sealed.
         SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  conduct violating a penal law of this state that occurs on or after
  the effective date of this Act. Conduct violating a penal law of
  this state that occurs before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct occurred, and
  the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
  purposes of this section, conduct occurred 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, 2023.