| 1 | 1 | | 82R6725 KCR-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Thompson H.B. No. 2711 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the sealing of the records of juveniles who are the |
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| 8 | 8 | | victims of human trafficking and have been adjudicated to have |
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| 9 | 9 | | engaged in certain delinquent conduct. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 58.003, Family Code, is amended by |
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| 12 | 12 | | adding Subsections (c-3) and (c-4) and amending Subsection (d) to |
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| 13 | 13 | | read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (c-3) This subsection applies only to a child who is the |
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| 15 | 15 | | victim of an offense under Section 20A.02, Penal Code, or is |
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| 16 | 16 | | otherwise described as a victim by Article 42.0191, Code of |
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| 17 | 17 | | Criminal Procedure. Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (c) and |
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| 18 | 18 | | subject to Subsection (b), a juvenile court shall order the sealing |
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| 19 | 19 | | of records concerning a child adjudicated as having engaged in |
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| 20 | 20 | | delinquent conduct that violated a provision of Chapter 43, Penal |
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| 21 | 21 | | Code, when the child, as applicable, successfully completes the |
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| 22 | 22 | | term of the child's probation or is discharged from the Texas Youth |
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| 23 | 23 | | Commission. The court shall order the sealing of the records |
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| 24 | 24 | | immediately and without a hearing. |
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| 25 | 25 | | (c-4) A prosecuting attorney or juvenile probation |
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| 26 | 26 | | department may maintain until a child's 17th birthday a separate |
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| 27 | 27 | | record of the child's name and date of birth and the date the child |
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| 28 | 28 | | successfully completed the term of the child's probation or was |
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| 29 | 29 | | discharged from the Texas Youth Commission, if the child's records |
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| 30 | 30 | | are sealed under Subsection (c-3). The prosecuting attorney or |
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| 31 | 31 | | juvenile probation department, as applicable, shall send the record |
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| 32 | 32 | | to the court as soon as practicable after the child's 17th birthday |
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| 33 | 33 | | to be added to the child's other sealed records. |
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| 34 | 34 | | (d) The court may grant the relief authorized in Subsection |
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| 35 | 35 | | (a), [or] (c-1), or (c-3) at any time after final discharge of the |
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| 36 | 36 | | person or after the last official action in the case if there was no |
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| 37 | 37 | | adjudication, subject, if applicable, to Subsection (e). If the |
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| 38 | 38 | | child is referred to the juvenile court for conduct constituting |
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| 39 | 39 | | any offense and at the adjudication hearing the child is found to be |
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| 40 | 40 | | not guilty of each offense alleged, the court shall immediately and |
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| 41 | 41 | | without any additional hearing order the sealing of all files and |
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| 42 | 42 | | records relating to the case. |
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| 43 | 43 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to the |
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| 44 | 44 | | sealing of records in the adjudication of a juvenile case on or |
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| 45 | 45 | | after the effective date of this Act, regardless of when the conduct |
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| 46 | 46 | | that is the subject of the adjudication occurred. |
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| 47 | 47 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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