86R10463 PMO-F
By: Dutton H.B. No. 3919
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to prosecutorial transparency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 2, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 47 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 47. PROSECUTORIAL TRANSPARENCY
Sec. 47.0001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Case number" means the unique number assigned to
a criminal case associated with a particular criminal charge.
(2) "Charge" means any accusation of a crime by a
prosecutor's office, including an ordinance, citation, summary,
misdemeanor, felony, or other type of crime, and an accusation
brought by ticket, citation, information, complaint, indictment,
or other charging instrument.
(3) "Disposition" means the conclusion of the
prosecution of a charge, including an entry of nolle prosequi,
diversion, dismissal, dismissal as part of plea bargain, conviction
as part of plea bargain, conviction at trial, or acquittal.
(4) "Policy" means any policy, procedure, guideline,
manual, training material, direction, instruction, or other
information, formal or informal, and written or unwritten, that
contains guidance for employees of the prosecutor's office.
(5) "Unique identifier" means a randomly generated
number assigned in place of a defendant's name.
Sec. 47.0002. INFORMATION COLLECTED, MAINTAINED, AND
DISCLOSED. (a) Except as provided by this section, a prosecutor's
office shall collect and disclose the following information for
each case prosecuted by the office:
(1) the case number;
(2) the indictment number;
(3) the docket number;
(4) the unique identifier;
(5) the defendant's race;
(6) the defendant's gender;
(7) the defendant's disability status, including, as
applicable:
(A) mental disability;
(B) physical disability; or
(C) sensory disability;
(8) the source of the information in Subdivision (7),
including, as applicable:
(A) the defendant's advocate or attorney;
(B) observation by defense attorney; or
(C) another source;
(9) the incident date;
(10) the arrest date;
(11) the district or neighborhood of the arrest;
(12) the primary arresting agency;
(13) other agencies involved in the arrest;
(14) the charges listed on arresting agency paperwork;
(15) if the prosecutor declines to prosecute the
arrest, the reason for not prosecuting the alleged offense;
(16) any charges brought by the prosecutor;
(17) the prosecutor who approved each charge;
(18) the defendant's eligibility for court-appointed
counsel and the proceeding in which the determination was made;
(19) the arraignment date;
(20) the charge modification date;
(21) the charge following modification;
(22) whether diversion was offered;
(23) the date diversion was offered;
(24) the judge's position on diversion if stated on the
record;
(25) if diversion was offered, whether it was accepted
by the defendant;
(26) the diversion terms, including the amount of any
fees, the defendant must pay;
(27) whether the charge carried a mandatory minimum
sentence;
(28) whether the charge was death penalty-eligible;
(29) the prosecutor's recommendation on amount of bail
or bond, including release conditions;
(30) whether bail or bond was imposed on the
defendant;
(31) whether bond was secured, unsecured, or another
type of arrangement;
(32) the date bail or bond was imposed;
(33) any ordered release conditions;
(34) the date range of any pretrial detention;
(35) whether a risk assessment or other
algorithm-based or quantitative tool was used in determining
pretrial detention or the amount of bail or bond and, if so:
(A) the name of the office or agency that
conducted the risk assessment; and
(B) the name of offices, agencies, individuals,
or attorneys that received the risk assessment results;
(36) whether any statutory or constitutional rights of
defendants were waived by stipulation or in the court's record and,
if so:
(A) the dates of the waiver;
(B) the rights waived; and
(C) whether and which rights were waived as a
condition of a plea bargain;
(37) whether a plea was offered;
(38) whether an acceptance time was included with a
plea offer;
(39) the terms of all pleas offered to the defendant,
including:
(A) any charges dismissed;
(B) the sentence ranges for charges dismissed;
(C) the charges in the plea;
(D) the sentence ranges for charges in the plea;
(E) any charges covered by the plea but not the
conviction; and
(F) any penalties or sentence offered for
accepting the plea;
(40) whether the plea was accepted or rejected;
(41) whether discovery was offered to the defendant
before the plea;
(42) the date discovery was disclosed to the defense
or defendant;
(43) the presiding judges for pretrial proceedings;
(44) the case's disposition, including:
(A) whether the case or charges were dropped by
the prosecutor or dismissed on the motion of the prosecutor and the
reason for the dismissal;
(B) the charges of which the defendant was
convicted;
(C) if the defendant was convicted, whether by
plea, jury trial, or bench trial; and
(D) if the case was dismissed by a judge, the
reason for the dismissal;
(45) the presiding judge at disposition;
(46) the disposition date;
(47) the sentence type;
(48) the sentence length;
(49) the presiding judge at sentencing;
(50) the supervision terms;
(51) any services required or provided to the defense
or defendant;
(52) any fines, fees, or surcharges imposed; and
(53) any forfeiture of property required.
(b) The prosecutor's office shall maintain a record of the
information required by Subsection (a) for each case until at least
the 10th anniversary of the date of the alleged offense that is the
subject of the case.
(c) The prosecutor's office shall collect and publish all
office policies including the policies listed in this subsection.
If the prosecutor's office does not maintain a policy related to any
topics listed in this subsection, the prosecutor's office shall
affirmatively disclose that fact. The policies may include:
(1) charge dismissal and charging;
(2) bail;
(3) sentencing;
(4) plea bargains;
(5) grand jury practices;
(6) discovery practices;
(7) witness treatment, including the timing and
procedures to procure material witness warrants;
(8) the procedure for deciding whether to prosecute
juveniles as adults;
(9) the manner in which fines and fees are assessed;
(10) criminal and civil forfeiture practices;
(11) mental health screening and mental health
history;
(12) substance abuse screening and history;
(13) domestic violence survivors;
(14) diversion policies and practices;
(15) human resources, including hiring, evaluation,
firing, promotion, and rotation among divisions or units in the
prosecutor's office;
(16) internal discipline policies and procedures in
the prosecutor's office;
(17) victim services;
(18) restorative justice programs;
(19) office trainings offered in the prosecutor's
office in the preceding year;
(20) practices involving tracking and responding to
prison inmates' applications for parole or resentencing; and
(21) policies specific to vulnerable populations,
including members of the immigrant, lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, or queer communities.
(d) The prosecutor's office shall collect and publish the
following information for each attorney employed in the office,
redacting the names and other personally identifying information or
otherwise ensuring the anonymity of each attorney:
(1) age;
(2) gender;
(3) race;
(4) date hired;
(5) title; and
(6) disciplinary history.
(e) The prosecutor's office must collect and publish the
following information:
(1) the number of attorneys on staff;
(2) the number of cases handled by an attorney each
year;
(3) the number of attorneys who worked for the office
in a temporary or contract capacity during the preceding calendar
year;
(4) the number of paralegals and administrative staff
employed by the office;
(5) the number of investigators used during the
preceding calendar year;
(6) the number of experts, on staff or in another
capacity, used during the preceding calendar year; and
(7) the number of police or detectives who work
directly for the prosecutor's office.
Sec. 47.0003. PUBLIC POSTING REQUIREMENTS. (a) A
prosecutor's office shall make publicly available the information
required by Section 47.0002(c)-(e) by posting the information on
the office's Internet website and making the information available
on request.
(b) The information made available under Subsection (a)
must include the effective date of the policy or the date the
information was gathered. The prosecutor's office shall ensure
that the office posts revised or newly drafted policies or newly
collected information in a timely manner, and not less frequently
than annually.
Sec. 47.0004. REPORT TO OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION.
(a) A prosecutor's office shall report the information required
under Section 47.0002(a) to the Office of Court Administration of
the Texas Judicial System.
(b) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
System shall:
(1) determine the manner in which information required
under Section 47.0002(a) is transmitted to the office by a
prosecutor's office in a uniform and consistent fashion;
(2) determine an implementation schedule and plan for
all prosecutors' offices in the state to report the information
required under Section 47.0002(a). That plan may include, at the
sole discretion of the office, implementation on a rolling basis
that starts by prioritizing a subset of the information or starts by
prioritizing reporting from prosecutors' offices from counties
with the largest population;
(3) on May 1 of each year, publish on the office's
Internet website the information collected under Section
47.0002(a) in an open electronic format that is machine-readable,
machine-searchable, and readily accessible to the public, provided
the information does not contain personally identifying
information about any person arrested or prosecuted;
(4) on September 1 of each year, produce an annual
report that analyzes the information received from all prosecutors'
offices, comparing and contrasting the practices and trends among
prosecutors' offices in this state, and identifying any
prosecutors' offices that are not in compliance with this chapter;
and
(5) biannually publish issue-specific reports that
provide a deeper analysis of one or more areas of prosecutorial
decision-making, with at least one report each year focusing on
racial disparities in prosecutorial decision-making.
(c) In accordance with the plan implemented under
Subsections (b)(1) and (2), on or before January 31 of each year, a
prosecutor's office shall transmit information that does not
contain any personally identifying information about a person
arrested or prosecuted to the Office of Court Administration of the
Texas Judicial System for the preceding calendar year.
Sec. 47.0005. ADVISORY BOARD. (a) A board is established
to advise the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
System under this chapter. The board shall meet at least quarterly
with the office to provide comments and guidance to the office on
any draft rules, policies, plans, reports, or other decisions made
by the office related to this chapter.
(b) The advisory board:
(1) is composed of at least seven members, appointed
by the governor; and
(2) must include at least:
(A) two members who are public defenders or
criminal defense attorneys; and
(B) two members who have direct experience being
prosecuted in the state's criminal justice system.
(c) An advisory board member is not entitled to compensation
for service on the advisory board.
Sec. 47.0006. NONCOMPLIANCE. Notwithstanding any other
law, if the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
System determines that a prosecutor's office is not in compliance
with this chapter, the prosecutor's office is ineligible to receive
funding from the state's general revenue fund or other fund or any
state grant program administered by the attorney general or other
entity controlling grants to the prosecutor's office, and the
office shall inform the comptroller and the Legislative Budget
Board of the ineligibility. Eligibility for funding may be
restored only after:
(1) the prosecutor's office fully complies with this
chapter and provides the required information; and
(2) the Office of Court Administration of the Texas
Judicial System certifies that the prosecutor's office is in
compliance with this chapter.
Sec. 47.0007. RELATION TO PUBLIC RECORDS ACTS. (a) If the
prosecutor's office is in compliance with this chapter and receives
a request for information under Chapter 552 that the prosecutor's
office reasonably and in good faith believes can be satisfied by
reference to information publicly available under this chapter, the
prosecutor's office may satisfy the obligation under Chapter 552 by
referring the requesting party to the Internet website of the
Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System that
contains the information and is not required to otherwise collect
and disclose the requested information.
(b) If the requesting party does not agree that the party's
request can be satisfied with information collected and published
under this chapter on the relevant website, the requesting party
may file suit in accordance with Chapter 552 to compel disclosure.
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than March 1, 2020, a prosecutor's
office shall post on the prosecutor's office's Internet website the
initial information required under Section 47.0002(c)-(e),
Government Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Not later than September 1, 2020, the Office of Court
Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall make the initial
determinations required under Sections 47.0004(b)(1) and (2),
Government Code, as added by this Act.
(c) Not later than May 1, 2021, the Office of Court
Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall post on the
office's Internet website the initial information required under
Section 47.0004(b)(3), Government Code, as added by this Act.
(d) Not later than September 1, 2021, the Office of Court
Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall produce the
initial reports required under Sections 47.0004(b)(4) and (5),
Government Code, as added by this Act.
(e) Not later than December 1, 2020, the governor shall make
the initial appointments to the advisory board required under
Section 47.0005, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.