82R795 KEL-D
By: West S.B. No. 462
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the right to an expunction of records and files relating
to a person's arrest.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 55.01(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person who has been placed under a custodial or
noncustodial arrest for commission of either a felony or
misdemeanor is entitled to have all records and files relating to
the arrest expunged if:
(1) the person is tried for the offense for which the
person was arrested and is:
(A) acquitted by the trial court, except as
provided by Subsection (c) [of this section]; or
(B) convicted and subsequently pardoned; or
(2) the person has been released and the charge, if
any, has not resulted in a final conviction and is no longer pending
and there was no court-ordered community supervision or deferred
disposition under this code for any offense except for a Class C
misdemeanor, provided that [each of the following conditions
exist]:
(A) an indictment, [or] information, or
complaint charging the person with the commission of a felony or
misdemeanor arising out of the transaction for which the person was
arrested:
(i) has not been presented against the
person at any time following the arrest, and at least 180 days have
elapsed from the date of the arrest; or
(ii) [for an offense arising out of the
transaction for which the person was arrested or,] if [an
indictment or information charging the person with commission of a
felony was] presented at any time following the arrest, was[, the
indictment or information has been] dismissed or quashed, and:
(a) at least 180 days have elapsed
from the date the indictment, information, or complaint was
dismissed or quashed; and
(b) [(i) the limitations period
expired before the date on which a petition for expunction was filed
under Article 55.02; or
[(ii)] the court finds that the indictment,
[or] information, or complaint was dismissed or quashed because the
person successfully completed a pretrial intervention program
authorized under Section 76.011, Government Code, because the
person successfully completed a period of deferred disposition
under Article 45.051, [or] because the presentment had been made
because of mistake, false information, or other similar reason
indicating absence of probable cause at the time of the dismissal to
believe the person committed the offense, or because the
indictment, information, or complaint [it] was void; or
(B) prosecution of the person for the offense for
which the person was arrested is no longer possible because the
limitations period has expired [the person has been released and
the charge, if any, has not resulted in a final conviction and is no
longer pending and there was no court ordered community supervision
under Article 42.12 for any offense other than a Class C
misdemeanor; and
[(C) the person has not been convicted of a
felony in the five years preceding the date of the arrest].
SECTION 2. Article 55.01(a-1), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is repealed.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
person seeking expunction of records and files relating to an
arrest regardless of whether the arrest occurred before, on, or
after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. 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.