Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3841 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R8578 KJE-F
2	2	By: Villalba H.B. No. 3841
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to a central database containing information about
8	8	offenders who have committed certain violent offenses against
9	9	children or offenses involving family or dating violence.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Article 42.015(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
12	12	is amended to read as follows:
13	13	(a) In the trial of an offense under Title 5 [Section 20.02,
14	14	20.03, or 20.04], Penal Code, or an attempt, conspiracy, or
15	15	solicitation to commit one of those offenses, the judge shall make
16	16	an affirmative finding of fact and enter the affirmative finding in
17	17	the judgment in the case if the judge determines that the victim or
18	18	intended victim was younger than 17 years of age at the time of the
19	19	offense.
20	20	SECTION 2. Section 411.088(b), Government Code, is amended
21	21	to read as follows:
22	22	(b) The department may not charge for processing an
23	23	electronic inquiry, made through the use of the Internet, for
24	24	information described as public information under:
25	25	(1) Section 411.1355; or
26	26	(2) Article 62.005, Code of Criminal Procedure[, made
27	27	through the use of the Internet].
28	28	SECTION 3. Section 411.135(a), Government Code, is amended
29	29	to read as follows:
30	30	(a) Any person is entitled to obtain from the department:
31	31	(1) any information described as public information
32	32	under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, including, to the
33	33	extent available, a recent photograph of each person subject to
34	34	registration under that chapter; [and]
35	35	(2) criminal history record information maintained by
36	36	the department that relates to the conviction of or a grant of
37	37	deferred adjudication to a person for any criminal offense,
38	38	including arrest information that relates to the conviction or
39	39	grant of deferred adjudication; and
40	40	(3) any information described as public information
41	41	under Section 411.1355.
42	42	SECTION 4. Subchapter F, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
43	43	amended by adding Section 411.1355 to read as follows:
44	44	Sec. 411.1355. CENTRAL DATABASE OF OFFENDERS WHO HAVE
45	45	COMMITTED CERTAIN VIOLENT OFFENSES. (a) The department shall
46	46	maintain a computerized central database containing information
47	47	regarding persons who:
48	48	(1) on three or more occasions have been convicted of
49	49	an offense for which an affirmative finding was made under Article
50	50	42.013 or 42.015, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
51	51	(2) were 17 years of age or older on the date at least
52	52	three of the offenses described by Subdivision (1) were committed.
53	53	(b) The information contained in the database is public
54	54	information, with the exception of any information:
55	55	(1) regarding the person's social security number,
56	56	driver's license number, or telephone number; or
57	57	(2) that would identify the victim of the offense with
58	58	respect to which the applicable affirmative finding was made.
59	59	(c) The database maintained by the department under this
60	60	section must contain, to the extent the information is available to
61	61	the department:
62	62	(1) the person's full name, each alias used by the
63	63	person, and the person's date of birth;
64	64	(2) a physical description and recent photograph of
65	65	the person;
66	66	(3) a list of offenses for which the person was
67	67	convicted and for which the court made an affirmative finding under
68	68	Article 42.013 or 42.015, Code of Criminal Procedure, the date of
69	69	conviction for each offense, and the punishment prescribed for each
70	70	offense; and
71	71	(4) an indication as to whether the person was
72	72	discharged, placed on community supervision, or released on parole
73	73	or to mandatory supervision following the conviction for each
74	74	offense.
75	75	(d) The department shall permit a person whose name is
76	76	included in the database established under this section to petition
77	77	the department for removal of the person's name from the database,
78	78	and the department shall remove the person's name from the database
79	79	in response to the petition if:
80	80	(1) an order of expunction is issued under Chapter 55,
81	81	Code of Criminal Procedure, with respect to one of the offenses
82	82	described by Subsection (a), unless the person has three or more
83	83	other convictions for an offense described by that subsection; or
84	84	(2) during the seven-year period preceding the date of
85	85	the petition, the person is not convicted of an offense described by
86	86	Subsection (a).
87	87	(e) On the website through which a person may search the
88	88	database described by this section, the department shall include
89	89	information regarding:
90	90	(1) the manner in which a person may petition the
91	91	department for removal of the person's name from the database;
92	92	(2) the circumstances under which the department will
93	93	grant the petition; and
94	94	(3) contact information for family violence
95	95	organizations.
96	96	(f) The department shall consult with a representative of a
97	97	statewide advocacy organization for issues related to family
98	98	violence regarding implementation of the database and the
99	99	information required to be included on the database website under
100	100	Subsection (e)(3).
101	101	SECTION 5. The central database required by Section
102	102	411.1355, Government Code, as added by this Act, must be designed
103	103	and implemented not later than January 1, 2016, and may only include
104	104	information concerning persons convicted of at least one offense
105	105	committed on or after the effective date of this Act for which an
106	106	affirmative finding is made under Article 42.013 or 42.015, Code of
107	107	Criminal Procedure. For purposes of this section, an offense was
108	108	committed on or after the effective date of this Act if each element
109	109	of the offense occurred on or after that date.
110	110	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
111	111	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
112	112	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
113	113	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
114	114	Act takes effect September 1, 2015.