H.B. No. 963
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility of certain applicants for occupational
licenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 53, Occupations Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter D to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER D. PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF LICENSE ELIGIBILITY
Sec. 53.101. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "License" means a license, certificate,
registration, permit, or other authorization that:
(A) is issued by a licensing authority; and
(B) a person must obtain to practice or engage in
a particular business, occupation, or profession.
(2) "Licensing authority" means a department,
commission, board, office, or other agency of the state that issues
a license.
Sec. 53.102. REQUEST FOR CRIMINAL HISTORY EVALUATION
LETTER. (a) A person may request a licensing authority to issue a
criminal history evaluation letter regarding the person's
eligibility for a license issued by that authority if the person:
(1) is enrolled or planning to enroll in an
educational program that prepares a person for an initial license
or is planning to take an examination for an initial license; and
(2) has reason to believe that the person is
ineligible for the license due to a conviction or deferred
adjudication for a felony or misdemeanor offense.
(b) The request must state the basis for the person's
potential ineligibility.
Sec. 53.103. AUTHORITY TO INVESTIGATE. A licensing
authority has the same powers to investigate a request submitted
under this subchapter and the requestor's eligibility that the
authority has to investigate a person applying for a license.
Sec. 53.104. DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY; LETTER. (a) If
a licensing authority determines that a ground for ineligibility
does not exist, the authority shall notify the requestor in writing
of the authority's determination on each ground of potential
ineligibility.
(b) If a licensing authority determines that the requestor
is ineligible for a license, the licensing authority shall issue a
letter setting out each basis for potential ineligibility and the
authority's determination as to eligibility. In the absence of new
evidence known to but not disclosed by the requestor or not
reasonably available to the licensing authority at the time the
letter is issued, the authority's ruling on the request determines
the requestor's eligibility with respect to the grounds for
potential ineligibility set out in the letter.
(c) A licensing authority must provide notice under
Subsection (a) or issue a letter under Subsection (b) not later than
the 90th day after the date the authority receives the request.
Sec. 53.105. FEES. A licensing authority may charge a
person requesting an evaluation under this subchapter a fee adopted
by the authority. Fees adopted by a licensing authority under this
subchapter must be in an amount sufficient to cover the cost of
administering this subchapter.
SECTION 2. Not later than September 1, 2010, a department,
commission, board, office, or other agency of the state that issues
a license to practice or engage in a particular business,
profession, or occupation shall adopt rules necessary to administer
Subchapter D, Chapter 53, Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. Section 53.021(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A licensing authority may suspend or revoke a license,
disqualify a person from receiving a license, or deny to a person
the opportunity to take a licensing examination on the grounds that
the person has been convicted of:
(1) an offense [a felony or misdemeanor] that directly
relates to the duties and responsibilities of the licensed
occupation;
(2) an offense that does not directly relate to the
duties and responsibilities of the licensed occupation and that was
committed less than five years before the date the person applies
for the license;
(3) an offense listed in Section 3g, Article 42.12,
Code of Criminal Procedure; or
(4) a sexually violent offense, as defined by Article
62.001, Code of Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 53, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 53.0211 to read as follows:
Sec. 53.0211. LICENSING OF CERTAIN APPLICANTS WITH PRIOR
CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS. (a) This section does not apply to an
applicant for a license that would allow the applicant to provide:
(1) law enforcement services;
(2) public health, education, or safety services; or
(3) financial services in an industry regulated by the
securities commissioner, the banking commissioner, the savings and
mortgage lending commissioner, or the credit union commissioner.
(b) Notwithstanding any law other than Subsection (a) and
unless the applicant has been convicted of an offense described by
Section 53.021(a), a licensing authority shall issue to an
otherwise qualified applicant who has been convicted of an offense:
(1) the license for which the applicant applied; or
(2) a provisional license described by Subsection (c).
(c) A licensing authority may issue a provisional license
for a term of six months to an applicant who has been convicted of an
offense.
(d) The licensing authority shall revoke a provisional
license if the provisional license holder:
(1) commits a new offense;
(2) commits an act or omission that causes the person's
community supervision, mandatory supervision, or parole to be
revoked, if applicable; or
(3) violates the law or rules governing the practice
of the occupation for which the provisional license is issued.
(e) The licensing authority shall issue the license for
which the applicant originally applied to a provisional license
holder on the expiration of the provisional license term if the
provisional license holder does not engage in conduct described by
Subsection (d).
(f) If the licensing authority revokes a provisional
license under Subsection (d), the provisional license holder is
disqualified from receiving the license for which the applicant
originally applied.
(g) An applicant who is on community supervision, mandatory
supervision, or parole and who is issued a provisional license
under this section shall provide to the licensing authority the
name and contact information of the probation or parole department
to which the person reports. The licensing authority shall notify
the probation or parole department that a provisional license has
been issued. The probation or parole department shall notify the
licensing authority if the person's community supervision,
mandatory supervision, or parole supervision is revoked during the
term of the provisional license.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act by the
amendment of Section 53.021(a), Occupations Code, and the addition
of Section 53.0211, Occupations Code, apply only to an application
for a license filed with a licensing authority, to which Chapter 53,
Occupations Code, applies, on or after the effective date of this
Act. An application filed before that date is governed by the law
in effect when the application is filed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 963 was passed by the House on March
31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 147, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 963 on May 29, 2009, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 963 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 145,
Nays 0, 2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 963 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
963 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor