89R11272 CJD-D

By: McLaughlin H.B. No. 2956

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a central database containing information about certain persons who have been convicted of or received a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision for certain offenses involving family violence and related notice requirements; creating a criminal offense.

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

SECTION 1. Title 1, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Chapter 61 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 61. FAMILY VIOLENCE REGISTRATION PROGRAM

Art. 61.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Department" means the Department of Public Safety.

(2) "Local law enforcement authority" has the meaning assigned by Article 62.001.

(3) "Offense involving family violence" means an offense:

(A) for which an affirmative finding of family violence was made under Article 42.013;

(B) under Section 25.11, Penal Code;

(C) under Title 5, Penal Code, if the offense is committed against a person whose relationship to or association with the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code; or

(D) under Section 25.07 or 25.072, Penal Code, if the violation that is an element of the offense occurred through the commission of an offense described by Paragraph (C).

Art. 61.02. CENTRAL DATABASE. (a) To the extent that funding is available under Article 61.08, the department shall establish and maintain a computerized central database containing information regarding persons who:

(1) have been convicted of or received a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision for one or more offenses involving family violence; and

(2) were 17 years of age or older at the time of the offense.

(b) If a computerized central database is established by the department under Subsection (a), a person described by that subsection shall register as required by this chapter until the 10th anniversary of the date the person was last convicted of or received a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision for an offense involving family violence.

(c) To the extent that funding is available under Article 61.08, the department, in cooperation with the Board of Pardons and Paroles, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and the Commission on Jail Standards, by rule shall design and implement a system for the registration of persons described by Subsection (a). The system must include requirements and procedures for:

(1) a person described by Subsection (a) to be notified, before the person's discharge or release, of the person's duty to register with a local law enforcement authority for the period required by Subsection (b);

(2) the person to register or verify registration with a local law enforcement authority:

(A) annually;

(B) every 90 days if the person is determined by the department to be high risk because of the person's status as a repeat offender; or

(C) every 30 days if the person does not have a permanent address;

(3) the person to register with a local law enforcement authority not later than five days after the date of a change in the person's address;

(4) the database to track whether a person described by Subsection (a) is in compliance with registration requirements;

(5) a local law enforcement authority to promptly forward registration information to the department for use in the database;

(6) the database to track whether a person described by Subsection (a) is attending or is planning to attend a public or private institution of higher education and, if so, the department to promptly forward that information to the applicable institution of higher education;

(7) the inclusion in the database and on the department's Internet website of a recent photograph of the person, updated annually; and

(8) the department to update the database daily.

(d) The department shall publish on its Internet website all public information contained in the database.

Art. 61.03. PUBLIC INFORMATION. The information contained in the computerized central database under this chapter is public information, with the exception of any information:

(1) regarding the person's social security number or driver's license number, or any home, work, or cellular telephone number of the person;

(2) regarding an employer's name, address, or telephone number; or

(3) that would identify the victim of an offense for which the person is subject to registration.

Art. 61.04. PUBLIC NOTICE REQUIRED. (a) On notice by a local law enforcement authority of the registration of a person under this chapter or the person's change of address, the department shall, not later than the 10th day after the date on which the department received notice, provide written notice mailed or delivered to at least each address, other than a post office box, within a one-mile radius, in an area that has not been subdivided, or a three-block area, in an area that has been subdivided, of the place where the person resides. In providing written notice under this subsection, the department shall use employees of the department whose duties in providing the notice are in addition to the employees' regular duties.

(b) The department shall provide the notice in English and Spanish and shall include in the notice any information that is public information under this chapter. The department may not include any information that is not public information under this chapter.

(c) The department shall establish procedures for a person with respect to whom notice is provided under Subsection (a) to pay to the department all costs incurred by the department in providing the notice. The person shall pay those costs in accordance with the procedures established under this subsection.

(d) On registration by a person subject to registration under this chapter, a local law enforcement authority may provide notice to the public in any manner determined appropriate by the local law enforcement authority, including publishing notice in a newspaper or other periodical or circular in circulation in the area where the person resides, holding a neighborhood meeting, posting notices in the area where the person resides, distributing printed notices to area residents, or establishing a specialized local website. The local law enforcement authority may include in the notice only information that is public information under this chapter.

(e) An owner, builder, seller, or lessor of a single-family residential real property or any improvement to residential real property or that person's broker, salesperson, or other agent or representative in a residential real estate transaction does not have a duty to make a disclosure to a prospective buyer or lessee about registrants under this chapter.

Art. 61.05. INFORMATION PROVIDED TO LAW ENFORCEMENT ON REQUEST. The department shall establish a procedure by which a peace officer or an employee of a local law enforcement authority who provides the department with a driver's license number, personal identification certificate number, or license plate number is automatically provided information as to whether the person to whom the driver's license or personal identification certificate is issued is required to register under this chapter or whether the license plate number is assigned to a vehicle owned or driven by a person required to register under this chapter.

Art. 61.06. EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION FOR CERTAIN FAMILY VIOLENCE OFFENDERS. (a) A person required to register under this chapter may petition the court having jurisdiction over the case for an order exempting the person from registration under this chapter at any time after the person's sentencing or after the person is placed on deferred adjudication community supervision.

(b) After a hearing on the petition described by Subsection (a), the court may issue an order exempting the person from registration under this chapter if the court finds that an exemption would be in the best interest of justice.

(c) An order exempting the person from registration under this chapter does not expire, except that the court may withdraw the order if after the order is issued the person receives another conviction or a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision for an offense involving family violence.

Art. 61.07. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS; OFFENSE. (a) A person commits an offense if the person is required to register and fails to comply with any requirement of this chapter.

(b) An offense under this article is a Class C misdemeanor.

Art. 61.08. FUNDING. The department may solicit and accept a gift, grant, or donation from any source, including a foundation, private entity, governmental entity, or institution of higher education, for the establishment and maintenance of the computerized central database described by this chapter and the implementation of a related system of registration under this chapter. The department shall establish and maintain the database and implement the registration system only if sufficient funds are available under this article for those purposes.

SECTION 2. Section 411.135(a), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Any person is entitled to obtain from the department:

(1) any information described as public information under Chapter 61 or 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, including, to the extent available, a recent photograph of each person subject to registration under Chapter 61 or 62 [that chapter];

(2) criminal history record information maintained by the department that relates to the conviction of or a grant of deferred adjudication to a person for any criminal offense, including arrest information that relates to the conviction or grant of deferred adjudication; and

(3) any information described as public information under Section 411.1355.

SECTION 3. (a) Chapter 61, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, applies only to a person who is convicted of or receives a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision for an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. A person who is convicted of or receives a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision for an offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this subsection, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.

(b) As soon as practicable after sufficient funding becomes available under Article 61.08, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act:

(1) the Department of Public Safety shall establish the requirements and procedures required by Chapter 61, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act; and

(2) the central database required by Chapter 61, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, must be designed and implemented.

SECTION 4. 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, 2025.