By: Huffman S.B. No. 262
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the reporting of criminal disposition completeness
percentage data.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 60.10, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) and adding
Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
(b) This article applies only to a county that has an
average disposition completeness percentage, including
individualized determinations for both juvenile and adult
dispositions, of less than 90 percent, as reflected in the most
recent [first] report submitted by the Department of Public Safety
[submits] under Article 60.21(b)(2) [on or after January 1, 2009].
(c) The commissioners court of a county described by
Subsection (b) shall establish a local data advisory board as
described by Article 60.09 not later than the 120th day after the
date this article becomes applicable to the county based on the
report under Article 60.21(b)(2) [not later than November 1, 2009].
A local data advisory board established under this article may
include any person described by Article 60.09(b) and must include:
(1) the sheriff of the county, or the sheriff's
designee;
(2) an attorney who represents the state in the
district courts of the county;
(3) an attorney who represents the state in the county
courts of the county;
(4) the clerk for the district courts of the county, or
the clerk's designee;
(5) the clerk for the county courts of the county, or
the clerk's designee;
(6) the police chief of the municipality with the
greatest population located in the county, or the chief's designee;
(7) a representative of the county's automated data
processing services, if the county performs those services; and
(8) a representative of an entity with whom the county
contracts for automated data processing services, if the county
contracts for those services.
(d) In addition to the duties described by Article 60.09(a),
a local data advisory board for a county that is subject to the
requirements of [established under] this article must prepare a
data reporting improvement plan. The data reporting improvement
plan must:
(1) describe the manner in which the county intends to
improve the county's disposition completeness percentage;
(2) ensure that the county takes the steps necessary
for the county's average disposition completeness percentage to be
equal to or greater than 90 percent not later than the first
anniversary of the date this article becomes applicable to that
county based on the [in the first] report [the Department of Public
Safety submits] under Article 60.21(b)(2) [on or after January 1,
2013]; and
(3) include a comprehensive strategy by which the
county will permanently maintain the county's disposition
completeness percentage at or above 90 percent.
(e) Not later than June 1 of each year[, 2010], a local data
advisory board for a county that is subject to the requirements of
[established under] this article shall submit to the Department of
Public Safety the data reporting improvement plan prepared for the
county. On receipt of a data reporting improvement plan under this
article, the department shall post the plan on the Internet website
maintained by the department.
(e-1) A county is released from its duties under this
article on the date the Department of Public Safety submits a report
under Article 60.21(b)(2) stating that the county has attained an
average disposition completeness percentage that is equal to or
greater than 90 percent. However, the county again becomes subject
to the requirements of this article if its average disposition
completeness percentage declines to a level that is less than 90
percent as reflected in the department's report.
SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Article 60.21, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(b) The Department of Public Safety shall:
(1) monitor the submission of arrest and disposition
information by local jurisdictions;
(2) annually submit to the Legislative Budget Board,
the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
representatives, the state auditor, and the standing committees in
the senate and house of representatives that have primary
jurisdiction over criminal justice and the Department of Public
Safety a report regarding the level of reporting by local
jurisdictions;
(3) identify local jurisdictions that do not report
arrest or disposition information or that partially report
information; and
(4) for use in determining the status of outstanding
dispositions, publish monthly on the Department of Public Safety's
Internet website or on another electronic publication a report
listing each arrest by local jurisdiction for which there is no
corresponding final court disposition.
SECTION 3. Subsection (g), Article 60.10, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is repealed.
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, 2013.