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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the timely reporting of criminal case dispositions to |
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the Department of Public Safety and to the allocation of certain |
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grant money. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Article 66.252, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e-1) to |
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read as follows: |
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(d) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (e) and |
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(e-1) or as otherwise required by applicable state law or rule, |
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information or data required by this chapter to be reported to the |
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Department of Public Safety or the Texas Department of Criminal |
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Justice shall be reported promptly but not later than the 30th day |
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after the date on which the information or data is received by the |
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agency responsible for reporting it. |
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(e-1) A clerk of court shall report to the Department of |
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Public Safety the dispositions of criminal cases in the court, |
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including the disposition of an appeal of a criminal case made to |
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the court, not later than the 14th business day after the date each |
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disposition becomes final. Each month, the department shall |
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aggregate on a county-wide basis information relating to the |
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timeliness of the dispositions reported for that month by the |
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clerks of court in each county under this subsection and shall |
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determine the corresponding percentage of case dispositions that |
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were timely reported for that county for that period. |
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SECTION 2. Article 66.402, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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amended to read as follows: |
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Art. 66.402. CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR ALLOCATION OF |
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CERTAIN GRANT MONEY. (a) Before allocating money to a county from |
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any federal or state grant program for the enhancement of criminal |
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justice programs, an agency of the state must certify that, using |
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all or part of the allocated money, the county has taken or will |
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take all action necessary to provide the Department of Public |
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Safety and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice any criminal |
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history records maintained by the county in the manner specified |
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for purposes of those departments. |
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(b) Before allocating grant money to a county under Chapter |
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772, Government Code, the criminal justice division of the |
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governor's office must certify that, in at least 30 of the 36 months |
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preceding the date of the grant application, the county |
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consistently reported to the Department of Public Safety not less |
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than 90 percent of the dispositions of criminal cases in the county |
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not later than the 14th business day after the date the disposition |
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becomes final, as determined from reports submitted to the |
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department by clerks of the court in that county under Article |
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66.252(e-1). On request of the division, the department shall |
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provide to the division the applicable information aggregated for a |
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county under that subsection. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |