H.B. No. 1573
AN ACT
relating to certain pretrial and post-trial procedures and testing
in a criminal case.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 17.085, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 17.085. NOTICE OF APPEARANCE DATE. The clerk of a
court that does not provide online Internet access to that court's
criminal case records shall post in a designated public place in the
courthouse notice of a prospective criminal court docket setting as
soon as the court notifies the clerk of the setting [not less than
48 hours before the docket setting].
SECTION 2. Article 20.22, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 20.22. PRESENTMENT ENTERED OF RECORD. (a) The fact
of a presentment of indictment by a grand jury shall be entered in
[upon] the record of the court, if the defendant is in custody or
under bond, noting briefly the style of the criminal action, [and]
the file number of the indictment, and the defendant's name.
(b) If the defendant is not in custody or under bond at the
time of the presentment of indictment, the indictment may not be
made public and the entry in the record of the court relating to the
[said] indictment must [shall] be delayed until [such time as] the
capias is served and the defendant is placed in custody or under
bond.
SECTION 3. Sections 2(b) and (f), Article 55.02, Code of
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The petition must be verified and must [shall] include
the following or an explanation for why one or more of the following
is not included:
(1) the petitioner's:
(A) full name;
(B) sex;
(C) race;
(D) date of birth;
(E) driver's license number;
(F) social security number; and
(G) address at the time of the arrest;
(2) the offense charged against the petitioner;
(3) the date the offense charged against the
petitioner was alleged to have been committed;
(4) the date the petitioner was arrested;
(5) the name of the county where the petitioner was
arrested and if the arrest occurred in a municipality, the name of
the municipality;
(6) the name of the agency that arrested the
petitioner;
(7) the case number and court of offense; and
(8) together with the applicable physical or e-mail
addresses, a list of all:
(A) law enforcement agencies, jails or other
detention facilities, magistrates, courts, prosecuting attorneys,
correctional facilities, central state depositories of criminal
records, and other officials or agencies or other entities of this
state or of any political subdivision of this state;
(B) central federal depositories of criminal
records that the petitioner has reason to believe have records or
files that are subject to expunction; and
(C) private entities that compile and
disseminate for compensation criminal history record information
that the petitioner has reason to believe have information related
to records or files that are subject to expunction.
(f) An ex parte petition filed under Subsection (e) must be
verified and must include the following or an explanation for why
one or more of the following is not included:
(1) the person's:
(A) full name;
(B) sex;
(C) race;
(D) date of birth;
(E) driver's license number;
(F) social security number; and
(G) address at the time of the arrest;
(2) the offense charged against the person;
(3) the date the offense charged against the person
was alleged to have been committed;
(4) the date the person was arrested;
(5) the name of the county where the person was
arrested and if the arrest occurred in a municipality, the name of
the municipality;
(6) the name of the agency that arrested the person;
(7) the case number and court of offense; and
(8) together with the applicable physical or e-mail
addresses, a list of all:
(A) law enforcement agencies, jails or other
detention facilities, magistrates, courts, prosecuting attorneys,
correctional facilities, central state depositories of criminal
records, and other officials or agencies or other entities of this
state or of any political subdivision of this state;
(B) central federal depositories of criminal
records that the person has reason to believe have records or files
that are subject to expunction; and
(C) private entities that compile and
disseminate for compensation criminal history record information
that the person has reason to believe have information relating to
records or files that are subject to expunction.
SECTION 4. Section 2a(c), Article 55.02, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(c) After verifying the allegations in an application
received under Subsection (a), the attorney representing the state
shall:
(1) include on the application information regarding
the arrest that was requested of the applicant but was unknown by
the applicant;
(2) forward a copy of the application to the district
court for the county;
(3) together with the applicable physical or e-mail
addresses, attach to the copy a list of all:
(A) law enforcement agencies, jails or other
detention facilities, magistrates, courts, prosecuting attorneys,
correctional facilities, central state depositories of criminal
records, and other officials or agencies or other entities of this
state or of any political subdivision of this state;
(B) central federal depositories of criminal
records that are reasonably likely to have records or files
containing information that is subject to expunction; and
(C) private entities that compile and
disseminate for compensation criminal history record information
that are reasonably likely to have records or files containing
information that is subject to expunction; and
(4) request the court to enter an order directing
expunction based on an entitlement to expunction under Article
55.01(d).
SECTION 5. Article 64.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection
(a-1) to read as follows:
(a) In this section, "biological material":
(1) means an item that is in possession of the state
and that contains blood, semen, hair, saliva, skin tissue or cells,
fingernail scrapings, bone, bodily fluids, or other identifiable
biological evidence that may be suitable for forensic DNA testing;
and
(2) includes the contents of a sexual assault evidence
collection kit.
(a-1) A convicted person may submit to the convicting court
a motion for forensic DNA testing of evidence containing biological
material. The motion must be accompanied by an affidavit, sworn to
by the convicted person, containing statements of fact in support
of the motion.
(b) The motion may request forensic DNA testing only of
evidence described by Subsection (a-1) [(a)] that was secured in
relation to the offense that is the basis of the challenged
conviction and was in the possession of the state during the trial
of the offense, but:
(1) was not previously subjected to DNA testing[:
[(A) because DNA testing was:
[(i) not available; or
[(ii) available, but not technologically
capable of providing probative results; or
[(B) through no fault of the convicted person,
for reasons that are of a nature such that the interests of justice
require DNA testing]; or
(2) although previously subjected to DNA testing, can
be subjected to testing with newer testing techniques that provide
a reasonable likelihood of results that are more accurate and
probative than the results of the previous test.
SECTION 6. Chapter 64, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 64.035 to read as follows:
Art. 64.035. UNIDENTIFIED DNA PROFILES. If an analyzed
sample meets the applicable requirements of state or federal
submission policies, on completion of the testing under Article
64.03, the convicting court shall order any unidentified DNA
profile to be compared with the DNA profiles in:
(1) the DNA database established by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation; and
(2) the DNA database maintained by the Department of
Public Safety under Subchapter G, Chapter 411, Government Code.
SECTION 7. Article 64.04, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 64.04. FINDING. After examining the results of
testing under Article 64.03 and any comparison of a DNA profile
under Article 64.035, the convicting court shall hold a hearing and
make a finding as to whether, had the results been available during
the trial of the offense, it is reasonably probable that the person
would not have been convicted.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act in amending
Article 55.02, Code of Criminal Procedure, apply to any petition or
application for the expunction of arrest records and files that is
filed on or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of
whether the arrest occurred before, on, or after that date.
SECTION 9.
The change in law made by this Act in amending
Chapter 64, Code of Criminal Procedure, applies to a motion for
forensic DNA testing filed on or after the effective date of this
Act. A motion for forensic DNA testing filed before the effective
date of this Act is covered by the law in effect at the time the
motion was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1573 was passed by the House on April
7, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1573 on May 21, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 0,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1573 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 18, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor