81R9569 JSC-D
By: Turner of Harris H.B. No. 4135
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the right to an expunction of records and files relating
to a person's arrest.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 55.01(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person who has been placed under a custodial or
noncustodial arrest for commission of either a felony or
misdemeanor is entitled to have all records and files relating to
the arrest expunged if:
(1) the person is tried for the offense for which the
person was arrested and is:
(A) acquitted by the trial court, except as
provided by Subsection (c) [of this section]; or
(B) convicted and subsequently pardoned; [or]
(2) prosecution of the person for the offense for
which the person was arrested is no longer possible because:
(A) the limitations period has expired; or
(B) double jeopardy has attached; or
(3) each of the following conditions exist:
(A) an indictment or information charging the
person with commission of a felony or misdemeanor has not been
presented against the person for an offense arising out of the
transaction for which the person was arrested or, if an indictment
or information charging the person with commission of a felony or
misdemeanor was presented, the indictment or information has been
dismissed or quashed[, and:
[(i) the limitations period expired before
the date on which a petition for expunction was filed under Article
55.02; or
[(ii) the court finds that the indictment
or information was dismissed or quashed because the presentment had
been made because of mistake, false information, or other similar
reason indicating absence of probable cause at the time of the
dismissal to believe the person committed the offense or because it
was void]; and
(B) the person has been released and the charge,
if any, has not resulted in a final conviction and is no longer
pending and there was no court ordered community supervision under
Article 42.12 for any offense except for [other than] a Class C
misdemeanor[; and
[(C) the person has not been convicted of a
felony in the five years preceding the date of the arrest].
SECTION 2. Article 55.01(a-1), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is repealed.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
person seeking expunction of records relating to an arrest
regardless of whether the arrest occurred before, on, or after the
effective date of this Act.
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, 2009.