By: Villalba, Alvarado, Morrison, H.B. No. 525
Thompson of Harris, et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to databases that contain information regarding certain
violent offenses or filed protective orders.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 42.015(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) In the trial of an offense under Title 5 [Section 20.02,
20.03, or 20.04], Penal Code, or an attempt, conspiracy, or
solicitation to commit one of those offenses, the judge shall make
an affirmative finding of fact and enter the affirmative finding in
the judgment in the case if the judge determines that the victim or
intended victim was younger than 17 years of age at the time of the
offense.
SECTION 2. Chapter 72, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter G to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER G. PROTECTIVE ORDER DATABASE
Sec. 72.201. If funds are provided by grants offered by the
Criminal Justice Division in the Office of the Governor, the Office
of Court Administration, in cooperation with the Department of
Public Safety and the courts of this state, shall work to establish
a protective order database that contains information for a
protective order filed under Chapter 82, Family Code, or Article
17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, and a protective order issued
under Chapter 83 or 85, Family Code, or Article 17.292, Code of
Criminal Procedure.
Sec. 72.202. (a) The database shall include both a portal
for governmental entities and a portal for the public.
(b) A publicly accessible database must consist of:
(1) the court that issued the protective order;
(2) the case number;
(3) the full name, county of residence, birth year,
and race or ethnicity of the person who is the subject of the
protective order;
(4) the dates the protective order was issued and
served;
(5) the date the protective order was vacated, if
applicable; and
(6) the date the protective order expires.
(c) Information for governmental entities shall include all
information in the application and may only be viewed by officers of
the court and their staff, a district attorney, criminal district
attorney, county attorney, the Title IV-D agency, an entity that
receives federal domestic violence funds, or a licensed peace
officer, all during the course of normal business.
SECTION 3. Section 411.088(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The department may not charge for processing an
electronic inquiry, made through the use of the Internet, for
information described as public information under:
(1) Section 411.1355; or
(2) Article 62.005, Code of Criminal Procedure[, made
through the use of the Internet].
SECTION 4. Section 411.135(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Any person is entitled to obtain from the department:
(1) any information described as public information
under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, including, to the
extent available, a recent photograph of each person subject to
registration under that chapter; [and]
(2) criminal history record information maintained by
the department that relates to the conviction of or a grant of
deferred adjudication to a person for any criminal offense,
including arrest information that relates to the conviction or
grant of deferred adjudication; and
(3) any information described as public information
under Section 411.1355.
SECTION 5. Subchapter F, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 411.1355 to read as follows:
Sec. 411.1355. CENTRAL DATABASE OF OFFENDERS WHO HAVE
COMMITTED CERTAIN VIOLENT OFFENSES. (a) The department shall
maintain a computerized central database containing information
regarding persons who:
(1) on three or more occasions have been convicted of:
(A) an offense for which an affirmative finding
was made under Article 42.013 or 42.015, Code of Criminal
Procedure;
(B) an offense under Section 21.16, Penal Code,
as added by Chapter 852 (S.B. 1135), Acts of the 84th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2015; or
(C) any combination of offenses described by
Paragraph (A) or (B); and
(2) were 17 years of age or older on the date at least
three of the offenses described by Subdivision (1) were committed.
(b) The information contained in the database is public
information, with the exception of any information:
(1) regarding the person's social security number,
driver's license number, or telephone number; or
(2) that would identify the victim of the offense.
(c) The database maintained by the department under this
section must contain, to the extent the information is available to
the department:
(1) the person's full name, each alias used by the
person, and the person's date of birth;
(2) a physical description and recent photograph of
the person;
(3) a list of offenses described by Subsection (a) for
which the person was convicted, the date of conviction for each
offense, and the punishment prescribed for each offense; and
(4) an indication as to whether the person was
discharged, placed on community supervision, or released on parole
or to mandatory supervision following the conviction for each
offense.
(d) The department shall permit a person whose name is
included in the database established under this section to petition
the department for removal of the person's name from the database,
and the department shall remove the person's name from the database
in response to the petition if:
(1) an order of expunction is issued under Chapter 55,
Code of Criminal Procedure, with respect to one of the offenses
described by Subsection (a), unless the person has three or more
other convictions for an offense described by that subsection; or
(2) during the seven-year period preceding the date of
the petition, the person is not convicted of an offense described by
Subsection (a).
(e) On the website through which a person may search the
database described by this section, the department shall include
information regarding:
(1) the manner in which a person may petition the
department for removal of the person's name from the database;
(2) the circumstances under which the department will
grant the petition; and
(3) contact information for family violence
organizations.
(f) The department shall consult with a representative of a
statewide advocacy organization for issues related to family
violence regarding implementation of the database and the
information required to be included on the database website under
Subsection (e)(3).
SECTION 6. Not later than September 1, 2018, the Office of
Court Administration shall work to establish the database required
by Subchapter G, Chapter 72, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 7. The central database required by Section
411.1355, Government Code, as added by this Act, must be designed
and implemented not later than January 1, 2018, and may only include
information concerning persons convicted of at least one offense
described by Subsection (a) of that section committed on or after
the effective date of this Act
. For purposes of this section, an
offense was committed on or after the effective date of this Act if
each element of the offense occurred on or after that date.
SECTION 8. 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, 2017.