82R13506 MCK-D
By: Gallego H.B. No. 3777
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to collection, storage, and distribution of criminal
history record information; providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Articles 60.01 through 60.21, Code of Criminal
Procedure, are designated as Subchapter A, Chapter 60, Code of
Criminal Procedure, and a heading is added to Subchapter A to read
as follows:
SUBCHAPTER A. INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND DATA COLLECTION
SECTION 2. Article 60.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 60.01. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter [chapter]:
(1) "Administration of criminal justice" means the
performance of any of the following activities: detection,
apprehension, detention, pretrial release, post-trial release,
prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision, or
rehabilitation of an offender. The term includes criminal
identification activities and the collection, storage, and
dissemination of criminal history record information.
(2) "Appeal" means the review of a decision of a lower
court by a superior court other than by collateral attack.
(3) "Computerized criminal history system" means the
data base containing arrest, disposition, and other criminal
history maintained by the Department of Public Safety.
(4) "Corrections tracking system" means the data base
maintained by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on all
offenders under its supervision.
(5) "Council" means the Criminal Justice Policy
Council.
(6) "Criminal justice agency" means a federal or state
agency that is engaged in the administration of criminal justice
under a statute or executive order and allocates a substantial part
of its annual budget to the administration of criminal justice.
(7) "Criminal justice information system" means the
computerized criminal history system and the corrections tracking
system.
(8) "Disposition" means an action that results in the
termination, transfer to another jurisdiction, or indeterminate
suspension of the prosecution of a criminal charge.
(9) "Incident number" means a unique number assigned
to a specific person during a specific arrest.
(10) "Offender" means any person who is assigned an
incident number.
(11) "Offense code" means a numeric code for each
offense category.
(12) "Rejected case" means:
(A) a charge that, after the arrest of the
offender, the prosecutor declines to include in an information or
present to a grand jury; or
(B) an information or indictment that, after the
arrest of the offender, the prosecutor refuses to prosecute.
(13) "Release" means the termination of jurisdiction
over an individual by the criminal justice system.
(14) "State identification number" means a unique
number assigned by the Department of Public Safety to each person
whose name appears in the criminal justice information system.
(15) "Uniform incident fingerprint card" means a
multiple part form containing a unique incident number with space
for information relating to the charge or charges for which a person
is being arrested, the person's fingerprints, and other information
relevant to the arrest.
(16) "Electronic means" means the transmission of data
between word processors, data processors, or similar automated
information equipment over dedicated cables, commercial lines, or
other similar methods of transmission.
SECTION 3. Article 60.02(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) The data bases must contain the information required by
this subchapter [chapter].
SECTION 4. Article 60.04(b), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A discrete submission of information under any article
of this subchapter [chapter] must contain, in conjunction with
information required, the defendant's name and state
identification number.
SECTION 5. Article 60.06(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Each criminal justice agency shall:
(1) compile and maintain records needed for reporting
data required by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the
Department of Public Safety;
(2) transmit to the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice and the Department of Public Safety, when and in the manner
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Department of
Public Safety direct, all data required by the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice and the Department of Public Safety;
(3) give the Department of Public Safety and the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice or their accredited agents access to
the agency for the purpose of inspection to determine the
completeness and accuracy of data reported;
(4) cooperate with the Department of Public Safety and
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice so that the Department of
Public Safety and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice may
properly and efficiently perform their duties under this subchapter
[chapter]; and
(5) cooperate with the Department of Public Safety and
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to identify and eliminate
redundant reporting of information to the criminal justice
information system.
SECTION 6. Article 60.08(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) Except as otherwise required by applicable state laws or
regulations, information or data required by this subchapter
[chapter] to be reported to the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice or the Department of Public Safety shall be reported
promptly but not later than the 30th day after the date on which the
information or data is received by the agency responsible for
reporting it except in the case of an arrest. An offender's arrest
shall be reported to the Department of Public Safety not later than
the seventh day after the date of the arrest.
SECTION 7. Article 60.21(c), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The report described by Subsection (b)(2) must contain a
disposition completeness percentage for each county in this
state. For purposes of this subsection, "disposition completeness
percentage" means the percentage of arrest charges a county reports
to the Department of Public Safety to be entered in the computerized
criminal history system under this subchapter [chapter] that were
brought against a person in the county for which a disposition has
been subsequently reported and entered into the computerized
criminal history system.
SECTION 8. Chapter 60, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subchapter B to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. PROVIDERS OF CRIMINAL
HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION
Art. 60.51. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Department" means the Department of Public
Safety.
(2) "Fee" means anything of value, including valuable
consideration or a service or the promise of valuable consideration
or a service, directly or indirectly received by a provider of
criminal history record information as payment for the information.
(3) "License" means a license under this subchapter to
distribute criminal history record information.
Art. 60.52. LICENSE REQUIRED. (a) A person may not
distribute criminal history record information for a fee unless the
person holds a license.
(b) The department shall adopt rules that:
(1) establish the requirements for a person to be
licensed to engage in the business of distributing criminal history
record information for a fee; and
(2) govern the administration of this subchapter.
Art. 60.53. LICENSE APPLICATION. The department by rule
shall determine the types of information to be included in an
application for a license on a form prescribed by the director.
Art. 60.54. APPLICATION FEE. The department may impose a
fee for a license in an amount sufficient to cover the costs
incurred by the department in administering this subchapter.
Art. 60.55. DENIAL OF APPLICATION; NOTICE. (a) The
department may deny an application for a license if the applicant
has previously had a license issued under this subchapter revoked.
(b) The department shall send written notice of the decision
to the applicant at the address shown on the application by
certified mail, return receipt requested. The notice must state
the reason for the department's decision.
Art. 60.56. TERM OF LICENSE; NOTICE OF EXPIRATION. (a) A
license is valid for the period set by the department.
(b) Not later than the 30th day before the expiration date
of a person's license, the department shall send written notice of
the impending license expiration to the person at the person's last
known address according to the department's records.
Art. 60.57. PROCEDURE FOR RENEWAL. (a) A person may apply
to the department to renew the person's license. The application
for renewal must be:
(1) made on a form approved by the department;
(2) submitted to the department before the expiration
date of the license; and
(3) accompanied by a nonrefundable fee.
(b) A person whose license expires and is not renewed under
this article may apply for a new license under Article 60.53.
Art. 60.58. PERIODIC INSPECTIONS. (a) The department may
enter and inspect at any time during business hours:
(1) the place of business of any person regulated
under this subchapter; or
(2) any place in which the department has reasonable
cause to believe that a person is violating this subchapter or a
department rule or order.
(b) At least once every two years, the department shall
inspect the place of business of each license holder.
(c) The department shall conduct additional inspections
based on a schedule of risk-based inspections using the following
criteria:
(1) any history of violations involving the business;
and
(2) any other factor determined by the department by
rule.
(d) The license holder shall pay a fee for each risk-based
inspection performed under Subsection (c). The department by rule
shall set the amount of the fee.
Art. 60.59. PERSONNEL. The department may employ personnel
necessary to administer and enforce this subchapter.
Art. 60.60. DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
INFORMATION. A person may not compile or distribute criminal
history record information for which the person has received notice
that:
(1) an order of expunction has been issued under
Article 55.02, Code of Criminal Procedure; or
(2) an order of nondisclosure has been issued under
Section 411.081(d) or (f-1), Government Code.
Art. 60.61. DISCIPLINARY ACTION. (a) The department may
suspend or revoke a license or place the license holder on probation
for a violation of this subchapter or a rule adopted under this
subchapter.
(b) A proceeding under this article is subject to Chapter
2001, Government Code.
Art. 60.62. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), a person who violates this subchapter or a rule
adopted under this subchapter is liable to the state for a civil
penalty in an amount not to exceed $100 for each violation.
(b) The department may issue a warning to a person for the
first violation of Article 60.60. After receiving a warning for the
first violation, the person is liable to the state for a civil
penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each subsequent violation.
(c) The attorney general or an appropriate prosecuting
attorney may sue to collect a civil penalty under this article.
(d) A civil penalty collected under this article shall be
deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the general revenue
fund.
Art. 60.63. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. (a) The department may
impose an administrative penalty on a person regardless of whether
the person holds a license if the person violates this subchapter or
a rule adopted under this subchapter.
(b) The amount of the penalty may not exceed $100, and each
day a violation continues or occurs is a separate violation for the
purpose of imposing a penalty. The amount shall be based on:
(1) the seriousness of the violation, including the
nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation;
(2) the harm caused by the violation;
(3) the history of previous violations;
(4) the amount necessary to deter a future violation;
(5) efforts to correct the violation; and
(6) any other matter that justice may require.
(c) The enforcement of the penalty may be stayed during the
time the order is under judicial review if the person pays the
penalty to the clerk of the court or files a supersedeas bond with
the court in the amount of the penalty. A person who cannot afford
to pay the penalty or file the bond may stay the enforcement by
filing an affidavit in the manner required by the Texas Rules of
Civil Procedure for a party who cannot afford to file security for
costs, subject to the right of the board to contest the affidavit as
provided by those rules.
(d) The attorney general may sue to collect the penalty.
(e) A proceeding to impose the penalty is a contested case
under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
SECTION 9. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
(b) Articles 60.52(a), 60.61, 60.62, and 60.63, Code of
Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, take effect January 1,
2012.