By: Turner (Senate Sponsor - Hinojosa) H.B. No. 961
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2011;
May 9, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 19, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 19, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the sealing of and restricting access to juvenile
records of adjudications of delinquent conduct or conduct
indicating a need for supervision and to the confidentiality of
records of certain misdemeanor convictions of a child.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 44, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 44.2811 to read as follows:
Art. 44.2811. RECORDS RELATING TO CHILDREN CONVICTED OF
FINE-ONLY MISDEMEANORS. All records and files and information
stored by electronic means or otherwise, from which a record or file
could be generated, relating to a child who is convicted of and has
satisfied the judgment for a fine-only misdemeanor offense other
than a traffic offense are confidential and may not be disclosed to
the public except as provided under Article 45.0217(b). All
records and files and information stored by electronic means or
otherwise, from which a record or file could be generated, relating
to a child whose conviction for a fine-only misdemeanor other than a
traffic offense is affirmed are confidential upon satisfaction of
the judgment and may not be disclosed to the public except as
provided under Article 45.0217(b).
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 45, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 45.0217 to read as follows:
Art. 45.0217. CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS RELATED TO THE
CONVICTION OF A CHILD. (a) Except as provided by Article 15.27 and
Subsection (b), all records and files, including those held by law
enforcement, and information stored by electronic means or
otherwise, from which a record or file could be generated, relating
to a child who is convicted of and has satisfied the judgment for a
fine-only misdemeanor offense other than a traffic offense are
confidential and may not be disclosed to the public.
(b) Information subject to Subsection (a) may be open to
inspection only by:
(1) judges or court staff;
(2) a criminal justice agency for a criminal justice
purpose, as those terms are defined by Section 411.082, Government
Code;
(3) the Department of Public Safety;
(4) an attorney for a party to the proceeding;
(5) the child defendant; or
(6) the defendant's parent, guardian, or managing
conservator.
SECTION 3. Section 58.003(c), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Subject to Subsection (b), a court may order the sealing
of records concerning a person adjudicated as having engaged in
delinquent conduct that violated a penal law of the grade of felony
only if:
(1) the person is 19 [21] years of age or older;
(2) the person was not transferred by a juvenile court
under Section 54.02 to a criminal court for prosecution;
(3) the records have not been used as evidence in the
punishment phase of a criminal proceeding under Section 3(a),
Article 37.07, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
(4) the person has not been convicted of a penal law of
the grade of felony after becoming age 17.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 58, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 58.00711 to read as follows:
Sec. 58.00711. RECORDS RELATING TO CHILDREN CONVICTED OF
FINE-ONLY MISDEMEANORS. Except as provided by Article 45.0217(b),
Code of Criminal Procedure, all records and files and information
stored by electronic means or otherwise, from which a record or file
could be generated, relating to a child who is convicted of and has
satisfied the judgment for a fine-only misdemeanor offense other
than a traffic offense are confidential and may not be disclosed to
the public.
SECTION 5. Section 58.203(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The department shall certify to the juvenile probation
department to which a referral was made that resulted in
information being submitted to the juvenile justice information
system that the records relating to a person's juvenile case are
subject to automatic restriction of access if:
(1) the person is at least 17 [21] years of age;
(2) the juvenile case did not include violent or
habitual felony conduct resulting in proceedings in the juvenile
court under Section 53.045; and
(3) the juvenile case was not certified for trial in
criminal court under Section 54.02[; and
[(4) the department has not received a report in its
criminal history system that the person was granted deferred
adjudication for or convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor
punishable by confinement in jail for an offense committed after
the person became 17 years of age].
SECTION 6. Section 58.208, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 58.208. INFORMATION TO CHILD ON DISCHARGE. On the
final discharge of a child from the juvenile system or on the last
official action in the case, if there is no adjudication, the
appropriate juvenile justice official shall provide to the child:
(1) a written explanation of how automatic restricted
access under this subchapter works;
(2) a copy of this subchapter; and
(3) a statement that if the child wishes to receive
notification of an action restricting access to the child's records
under Section 58.207(a), the child must before the child's 17th
[21st] birthday provide the juvenile probation department with a
current address where the child can receive notification.
SECTION 7. Section 58.209(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) When a child is placed on probation for an offense that
may be eligible for automatic restricted access at age 17 [21] or
when a child is received by the Texas Youth Commission on an
indeterminate commitment, a probation officer or an official at the
Texas Youth Commission reception center, as soon as practicable,
shall explain the substance of the following information to the
child:
(1) if the child was adjudicated as having committed
delinquent conduct for a felony or jailable misdemeanor, that the
child probably has a juvenile record with the department and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation;
(2) that the child's juvenile record is a permanent
record that is not destroyed or erased unless the record is eligible
for sealing and the child or the child's family hires a lawyer and
files a petition in court to have the record sealed;
(3) that the child's juvenile record, other than
treatment records made confidential by law, can be accessed by
police, sheriff's officers, prosecutors, probation officers,
correctional officers, and other criminal and juvenile justice
officials in this state and elsewhere;
(4) that the child's juvenile record, other than
treatment records made confidential by law, can be accessed by
employers, educational institutions, licensing agencies, and other
organizations when the child applies for employment or educational
programs;
(5) if the child's juvenile record is placed on
restricted access when the child becomes 17 [21] years of age, that
access will be denied to employers, educational institutions, and
others except for criminal justice agencies; and
(6) [that to have the child's juvenile record placed on
restricted access at age 21, the child must not:
[(A) commit a felony or jailable misdemeanor; and
[(B) receive deferred adjudication for or be
convicted in adult court of a felony or jailable misdemeanor; and
[(7)] that restricted access does not require any
action by the child or the child's family, including the filing of a
petition or hiring of a lawyer, but occurs automatically at age 17
[21 if the child does not commit a criminal offense in the future].
SECTION 8. Section 411.0851(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A private entity that compiles and disseminates for
compensation criminal history record information shall destroy and
may not disseminate any information in the possession of the entity
with respect to which the entity 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)].
SECTION 9. The heading to Section 552.142, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 552.142. EXCEPTION: RECORDS OF CERTAIN DEFERRED
ADJUDICATIONS [AND CERTAIN MISDEMEANORS PUNISHABLE BY FINE ONLY].
SECTION 10. Section 552.142(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Information is excepted from the requirements of
Section 552.021 if an order of nondisclosure with respect to the
information has been issued under Section 411.081(d) [or (f-1)].
SECTION 11. Section 552.1425(a), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A private entity that compiles and disseminates for
compensation criminal history record information may not compile or
disseminate information with respect to which the entity 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)].
SECTION 12. Sections 411.081(f-1) and (j), Government Code,
are repealed.
SECTION 13. Sections 58.003(c), 58.203(a), 58.208, and
58.209(a), Family Code, as amended by this Act, apply to the sealing
of and restricting access to records in the adjudication of a
juvenile case on or after the effective date of this Act, regardless
of whether the adjudication occurred before, on, or after the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 14. Articles 44.2811 and 45.0217, Code of Criminal
Procedure, and Section 58.00711, Family Code, as added by this Act,
and Sections 411.0851(a), 552.142, and 552.1425(a), Government
Code, as amended by this Act, apply to convictions before, on, or
after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 15. 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, 2011.
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