By: RodrÃguez, et al. S.B. No. 1242
(Burkett)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the confidentiality of certain personal information of
an applicant for or a person protected by a protective order.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 82, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 82.011 to read as follows:
Sec. 82.011. CONFIDENTIALITY OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. On
request by an applicant, the court may protect the applicant's
mailing address by rendering an order:
(1) requiring the applicant to:
(A) disclose the applicant's mailing address to
the court;
(B) designate a person to receive on behalf of
the applicant any notice or documents filed with the court related
to the application; and
(C) disclose the designated person's mailing
address to the court;
(2) requiring the court clerk to:
(A) strike the applicant's mailing address from
the public records of the court, if applicable; and
(B) maintain a confidential record of the
applicant's mailing address for use only by the court; and
(3) prohibiting the release of the information to the
respondent.
SECTION 2. Section 82.041(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A notice of an application for a protective order must:
(1) be styled "The State of Texas";
(2) be signed by the clerk of the court under the
court's seal;
(3) contain the name and location of the court;
(4) show the date the application was filed;
(5) show the date notice of the application for a
protective order was issued;
(6) show the date, time, and place of the hearing;
(7) show the file number;
(8) show the name of each applicant and each person
alleged to have committed family violence;
(9) be directed to each person alleged to have
committed family violence;
(10) show:
(A) the name and address of the attorney for the
applicant; or
(B) [the mailing address of the applicant,] if
the applicant is not represented by an attorney:
(i) the mailing address of the applicant;
or
(ii) if applicable, the name and mailing
address of the person designated under Section 82.011; and
(11) contain the address of the clerk of the court.
SECTION 3. Section 85.007(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) On granting a request for confidentiality under this
section, the court shall order the clerk to:
(1) strike the information described by Subsection (a)
from the public records of the court; and
(2) maintain a confidential record of the information
for use only by:
(A) the court; or
(B) a law enforcement agency for purposes of
entering the information required by Section 411.042(b)(6),
Government Code, into the statewide law enforcement information
system maintained by the Department of Public Safety.
SECTION 4. Section 411.042(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The bureau of identification and records shall:
(1) procure and file for record photographs, pictures,
descriptions, fingerprints, measurements, and other pertinent
information of all persons arrested for or charged with a criminal
offense or convicted of a criminal offense, regardless of whether
the conviction is probated;
(2) collect information concerning the number and
nature of offenses reported or known to have been committed in the
state and the legal steps taken in connection with the offenses, and
other information useful in the study of crime and the
administration of justice, including information that enables the
bureau to create a statistical breakdown of:
(A) offenses in which family violence was
involved;
(B) offenses under Sections 22.011 and 22.021,
Penal Code; and
(C) offenses under Sections 20A.02 and 43.05,
Penal Code;
(3) make ballistic tests of bullets and firearms and
chemical analyses of bloodstains, cloth, materials, and other
substances for law enforcement officers of the state;
(4) cooperate with identification and crime records
bureaus in other states and the United States Department of
Justice;
(5) maintain a list of all previous background checks
for applicants for any position regulated under Chapter 1702,
Occupations Code, who have undergone a criminal history background
check under Section 411.119, if the check indicates a Class B
misdemeanor or equivalent offense or a greater offense;
(6) collect information concerning the number and
nature of protective orders and magistrate's orders of emergency
protection and all other pertinent information about all persons
subject to active orders, including pertinent information about
persons subject to conditions of bond imposed for the protection of
the victim in any family violence, sexual assault or abuse,
stalking, or trafficking case. Information in the law enforcement
information system relating to an active order shall include:
(A) the name, sex, race, date of birth, personal
descriptors, address, and county of residence of the person to whom
the order is directed;
(B) any known identifying number of the person to
whom the order is directed, including the person's social security
number or driver's license number;
(C) the name and county of residence of the
person protected by the order;
(D) the residence address and place of employment
or business of the person protected by the order, unless that
information is excluded from the order under [Section 85.007,
Family Code, or] Article 17.292(e), Code of Criminal Procedure;
(E) the child-care facility or school where a
child protected by the order normally resides or which the child
normally attends, unless that information is excluded from the
order under [Section 85.007, Family Code, or] Article 17.292(e),
Code of Criminal Procedure;
(F) the relationship or former relationship
between the person who is protected by the order and the person to
whom the order is directed;
(G) the conditions of bond imposed on the person
to whom the order is directed, if any, for the protection of a
victim in any family violence, sexual assault or abuse, stalking,
or trafficking case;
(H) any minimum distance the person subject to
the order is required to maintain from the protected places or
persons; and
(I) the date the order expires;
(7) grant access to criminal history record
information in the manner authorized under Subchapter F;
(8) collect and disseminate information regarding
offenders with mental impairments in compliance with Chapter 614,
Health and Safety Code; and
(9) record data and maintain a state database for a
computerized criminal history record system and computerized
juvenile justice information system that serves:
(A) as the record creation point for criminal
history record information and juvenile justice information
maintained by the state; and
(B) as the control terminal for the entry of
records, in accordance with federal law and regulations, federal
executive orders, and federal policy, into the federal database
maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
SECTION 5. Section 82.011, Family Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to an application for a protective order that is
filed on or after the effective date of this Act. An application
for a protective order filed before the effective date of this Act
is governed by the law in effect on the date the application is
filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. Section 85.007, Family Code, and Section
411.042, Government Code, as amended by this Act, apply to a
protective order issued on or after the effective date of this Act,
regardless of whether the conduct on which the order is based
occurred before, on, or after that date.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.