Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1916 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: West S.B. No. 1916
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the automatic expunction of arrest records and files
7	7	after an individual receives a pardon or a grant of certain other
8	8	relief with respect to the offense for which the individual was
9	9	arrested.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Article 55.01, Code of Criminal
12	12	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
13	13	(a) A person who has been placed under a custodial or
14	14	noncustodial arrest for commission of either a felony or
15	15	misdemeanor is entitled to have all records and files relating to
16	16	the arrest expunged if:
17	17	(1) the person is tried for the offense for which the
18	18	person was arrested and is:
19	19	(A) acquitted by the trial court, except as
20	20	provided by Subsection (c) of this section; or
21	21	(B) convicted and subsequently:
22	22	(i) pardoned; or
23	23	(ii) otherwise granted relief on the basis
24	24	of actual innocence with respect to that offense; or
25	25	(2) each of the following conditions exist:
26	26	(A) an indictment or information charging the
27	27	person with commission of a felony has not been presented against
28	28	the person for an offense arising out of the transaction for which
29	29	the person was arrested or, if an indictment or information
30	30	charging the person with commission of a felony was presented, the
31	31	indictment or information has been dismissed or quashed, and:
32	32	(i) the limitations period expired before
33	33	the date on which a petition for expunction was filed under Article
34	34	55.02; or
35	35	(ii) the court finds that the indictment or
36	36	information was dismissed or quashed because the presentment had
37	37	been made because of mistake, false information, or other similar
38	38	reason indicating absence of probable cause at the time of the
39	39	dismissal to believe the person committed the offense or because it
40	40	was void;
41	41	(B) the person has been released and the charge,
42	42	if any, has not resulted in a final conviction and is no longer
43	43	pending and there was no court ordered community supervision under
44	44	Article 42.12 for any offense other than a Class C misdemeanor; and
45	45	(C) the person has not been convicted of a felony
46	46	in the five years preceding the date of the arrest.
47	47	SECTION 2. Article 55.02, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
48	48	amended by adding Section 1a to read as follows:
49	49	Sec. 1a. (a) The trial court presiding over a case in which
50	50	a defendant is convicted and subsequently pardoned or otherwise
51	51	subsequently granted relief on the basis of actual innocence of the
52	52	offense of which the defendant was convicted, if the trial court is
53	53	a district court, or a district court in the county in which the
54	54	trial court is located, shall enter an order of expunction for a
55	55	person entitled to expunction under Article 55.01(a)(1)(B) not
56	56	later than the 30th day after the date the court receives notice of
57	57	the pardon or other grant of relief. The person shall provide to
58	58	the district court all of the information required in a petition for
59	59	expunction under Section 2(b).
60	60	(b) The attorney for the state shall prepare an expunction
61	61	order under this section for the court's signature.
62	62	(c) The court shall include in an expunction order under
63	63	this section a listing of each official, agency, or other entity of
64	64	this state or political subdivision of this state and each private
65	65	entity that there is reason to believe has any record or file that
66	66	is subject to the order. The court shall also provide in an
67	67	expunction order under this section that the Department of Public
68	68	Safety and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall:
69	69	(1) return all records and files that are subject to
70	70	the expunction order to the court; and
71	71	(2) delete from its public records all index
72	72	references to the records and files that are subject to the
73	73	expunction order.
74	74	(d) The court shall retain all records and files provided to
75	75	the court under Subsection (c) until the statute of limitations has
76	76	run for any civil case or proceeding relating to the wrongful
77	77	imprisonment of the person subject to the expunction order.
78	78	SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 2, Article 55.02, Code
79	79	of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
80	80	(a) A person who is entitled to expunction of records and
81	81	files under Article 55.01(a)(2) [55.01(a)] or a person who is
82	82	eligible for expunction of records and files under Article 55.01(b)
83	83	may file an ex parte petition for expunction in a district court for
84	84	the county in which:
85	85	(1) the petitioner was arrested; or
86	86	(2) the offense was alleged to have occurred.
87	87	SECTION 4. Subsection (c), Section 3, Article 55.02, Code
88	88	of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
89	89	(c) When the order of expunction is final, the clerk of the
90	90	court shall send a certified copy of the order to the Crime Records
91	91	Service of the Department of Public Safety and to each official or
92	92	agency or other governmental entity of this state or of any
93	93	political subdivision of this state named in [designated by the
94	94	person who is the subject of] the order. The certified copy of the
95	95	order must be sent by secure electronic mail, electronic
96	96	transmission, or facsimile transmission or otherwise by certified
97	97	mail, return receipt requested. In sending the order to a
98	98	governmental entity named in the order [designated by the person],
99	99	the clerk may elect to substitute hand delivery for certified mail
100	100	under this subsection, but the clerk must receive a receipt for that
101	101	hand-delivered order.
102	102	SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 5, Article 55.02, Code
103	103	of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
104	104	(a) Except as provided by Subsections (f) and (g), on
105	105	receipt of the order, each official or agency or other governmental
106	106	entity named in the order shall:
107	107	(1) return all records and files that are subject to
108	108	the expunction order to the court or in cases other than those
109	109	described by Section 1a, if removal is impracticable, obliterate
110	110	all portions of the record or file that identify the person who is
111	111	the subject of the order and notify the court of its action; and
112	112	(2) delete from its public records all index
113	113	references to the records and files that are subject to the
114	114	expunction order.
115	115	SECTION 6. This Act applies to the expunction of arrest
116	116	records related to a criminal offense for which a pardon or other
117	117	relief on the basis of actual innocence was granted before, on, or
118	118	after the effective date of this Act.
119	119	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.