Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB3419 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Patrick (Senate Sponsor - West) H.B. No. 3419
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 18, 2009;
3	3	May 19, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on State
4	4	Affairs; May 26, 2009, reported favorably by the following vote:
5	5	Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 26, 2009, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to the disclosure of criminal history record information
11	11	regarding public school employees.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 411.084, Government Code, is amended by
14	14	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (c) to
15	15	read as follows:
16	16	(a) Criminal history record information obtained from the
17	17	department under this subchapter, including any identification
18	18	information that could reveal the identity of a person about whom
19	19	criminal history record information is requested and information
20	20	that directly or indirectly indicates or implies involvement of a
21	21	person in the criminal justice system:
22	22	(1) is for the exclusive use of the authorized
23	23	recipient of the information; and
24	24	(2) may be disclosed or used by the recipient only if,
25	25	and only to the extent that, disclosure or use is authorized or
26	26	directed by:
27	27	(A) this subchapter;
28	28	(B) another statute;
29	29	(C) a rule adopted under a statute; or
30	30	(D) an order of a court of competent
31	31	jurisdiction.
32	32	(a-1) The term criminal history record information under
33	33	Subsection (a) does not refer to any specific document produced to
34	34	comply with this subchapter but to the information contained,
35	35	wholly or partly, in a document's original form or any subsequent
36	36	form or use.
37	37	(c) An agency or individual may not confirm the existence or
38	38	nonexistence of criminal history record information to any person
39	39	that is not eligible to receive the information.
40	40	SECTION 2. Sections 411.090(b) and (c), Government Code,
41	41	are amended to read as follows:
42	42	(b) Criminal history record information obtained by the
43	43	board in the original form or any subsequent form [under Subsection
44	44	(a)]:
45	45	(1) may be used only for a [any] purpose related to the
46	46	issuance, denial, suspension, or cancellation of a certificate
47	47	issued by the board;
48	48	(2) may not be released to any person except:
49	49	(A) the person who is the subject of the
50	50	information;
51	51	(B) the Texas Education Agency;
52	52	(C) a local or regional educational entity as
53	53	provided by Section 411.097; or
54	54	(D) by [on] court order [or with the consent of
55	55	the applicant for a certificate]; [and]
56	56	(3) is not subject to disclosure as provided by
57	57	Chapter 552; and
58	58	(4) shall be destroyed by the board after the
59	59	information is used for the authorized purposes.
60	60	(c) The department shall notify the State Board for Educator
61	61	Certification of the arrest of any educator, as defined by Section
62	62	5.001, Education Code, who has fingerprints on file with the
63	63	department. Any record of the notification and any information
64	64	contained in the notification is not subject to disclosure as
65	65	provided by Chapter 552.
66	66	SECTION 3. Section 411.0901, Government Code, is amended to
67	67	read as follows:
68	68	Sec. 411.0901. ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
69	69	INFORMATION: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY. (a) The Texas Education
70	70	Agency is entitled to obtain criminal history record information
71	71	maintained by the department about a person who:
72	72	(1) is employed or is an applicant for employment by a
73	73	school district or open-enrollment charter school;
74	74	(2) is employed or is an applicant for employment by a
75	75	shared services arrangement, if the employee's or applicant's
76	76	duties are or will be performed on school property or at another
77	77	location where students are regularly present; or
78	78	(3) is employed or is an applicant for employment by an
79	79	entity that contracts with a school district, open-enrollment
80	80	charter school, or shared services arrangement if:
81	81	(A) the employee or applicant has or will have
82	82	continuing duties relating to the contracted services; and
83	83	(B) the employee or applicant has or will have
84	84	direct contact with students.
85	85	(b) Criminal history record information obtained by the
86	86	agency in the original form or any subsequent form:
87	87	(1) may be used only for a purpose authorized by the
88	88	Education Code;
89	89	(2) may not be released to any person except:
90	90	(A) the person who is the subject of the
91	91	information;
92	92	(B) the State Board for Educator Certification;
93	93	(C) a local or regional educational entity as
94	94	provided by Section 411.097; or
95	95	(D) by court order;
96	96	(3) is not subject to disclosure as provided by
97	97	Chapter 552; and
98	98	(4) shall be destroyed by the agency after the
99	99	information is used for the authorized purposes.
100	100	SECTION 4. Section 411.097, Government Code, is amended by
101	101	amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
102	102	follows:
103	103	(d) Criminal history record information obtained by a
104	104	school district, charter school, private school, service center,
105	105	commercial transportation company, or shared services arrangement
106	106	in the original form or any subsequent form:
107	107	(1) [under Subsection (a), (b), or (c)] may not be
108	108	released [or disclosed] to any person except:
109	109	(A) [, other than] the individual who is the
110	110	subject of the information;
111	111	(B) [,] the Texas Education Agency;
112	112	(C) [,] the State Board for Educator
113	113	Certification;
114	114	(D) [, or] the chief personnel officer of the
115	115	transportation company, if the information is obtained under
116	116	Subsection (a)(2); or
117	117	(E) by court order;
118	118	(2) is not subject to disclosure as provided by
119	119	Chapter 552; and
120	120	(3) shall be destroyed by the school district, charter
121	121	school, private school, service center, commercial transportation
122	122	company, or shared services arrangement on the earlier of:
123	123	(A) the first anniversary of the date the
124	124	information was originally obtained; or
125	125	(B) the date the information is used for the
126	126	authorized purpose.
127	127	(f) An employee of a school district, charter school,
128	128	private school, regional education service center, commercial
129	129	transportation company, or education shared services arrangement
130	130	or an entity that contracts to provide services to a school
131	131	district, charter school, or shared services arrangement may
132	132	request from the employer a copy of any criminal history record
133	133	information relating to that employee that the employer has
134	134	obtained as provided by Subchapter C, Chapter 22, Education Code.
135	135	The employer may charge a fee to an employee requesting a copy of
136	136	the information in an amount not to exceed the actual cost of
137	137	copying the requested criminal history record information.
138	138	SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 22, Education Code, is
139	139	amended by adding Section 22.08391 to read as follows:
140	140	Sec. 22.08391. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION. (a)
141	141	Information collected about a person to comply with this
142	142	subchapter, including the person's name, address, phone number,
143	143	social security number, driver's license number, other
144	144	identification number, and fingerprint records:
145	145	(1) may not be released except:
146	146	(A) to comply with this subchapter;
147	147	(B) by court order; or
148	148	(C) with the consent of the person who is the
149	149	subject of the information;
150	150	(2) is not subject to disclosure as provided by
151	151	Chapter 552, Government Code; and
152	152	(3) shall be destroyed by the requestor or any
153	153	subsequent holder of the information not later than the first
154	154	anniversary of the date the information is received.
155	155	(b) Any criminal history record information received by the
156	156	State Board for Educator Certification as provided by this
157	157	subchapter is subject to Section 411.090(b), Government Code.
158	158	(c) Any criminal history record information received by the
159	159	agency as provided by this subchapter is subject to Section
160	160	411.0901(b), Government Code.
161	161	(d) Any criminal history record information received by a
162	162	school district, charter school, private school, regional
163	163	education service center, commercial transportation company, or
164	164	education shared services arrangement or an entity that contracts
165	165	to provide services to a school district, charter school, or shared
166	166	services arrangement as provided by this subchapter is subject to
167	167	Section 411.097(d), Government Code.
168	168	SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies to
169	169	information collected, assembled, or maintained before, on, or
170	170	after the effective date of this Act.
171	171	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
172	172	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
173	173	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
174	174	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
175	175	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
176	176	* * * * *