86R10990 YDB-D
By: Powell S.B. No. 2133
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the implementation of a statewide case management
system for judicial case information.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 72, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 72.0305 to read as follows:
Sec. 72.0305. STATEWIDE CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. (a) The
office shall implement a statewide case management system:
(1) to provide to counties and the Department of
Public Safety immediate access to judicial case information; and
(2) for timely reporting of criminal history and
mental health records and domestic violence protective orders for
background checks.
(b) The statewide case management system must:
(1) include each document or pleading filed for a
felony criminal matter, mental health adjudication, or domestic
violence protective order in a state court unless electronic filing
for the document or pleading is prohibited under any other law;
(2) allow state court judges access to the system for
criminal offense sentencing determinations or to perform other
duties assigned by law;
(3) allow counties and the Department of Public Safety
access to information in the system necessary to perform duties
assigned by law;
(4) automatically deliver arrest and conviction
information, conditions of bond, mental health adjudication
records, guardianship orders, and domestic violence protective
order information to counties and the Department of Public Safety
as necessary to perform duties assigned by law;
(5) maximize the automation and transmission of
criminal history and mental health records to the National Instant
Criminal Background Check System operated by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and any other state or national criminal and mental
health record repositories determined by the office to be
appropriate;
(6) to the extent feasible, integrate with the
electronic filing system established under Section 72.031;
(7) provide a method for archiving expired domestic
violence protection orders; and
(8) provide privacy protections for sealed records and
other records protected by law.
(c) The office shall initially focus on establishing the
system in counties with a population of less than 20,000 and expand
the system to larger counties as time and money allow.
(d) Information in the statewide case management system is
exempt from disclosure under Chapter 552.
(e) The Department of Public Safety shall assist the office
in implementing the statewide case management system and ensuring
the system interacts with existing state and national criminal and
mental health record repositories. The office and department may
enter into a memorandum of understanding stating the duties of each
agency in implementing the system.
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Office of Court Administration of the Texas
Judicial System shall implement the statewide case management
system required by Section 72.0305, Government Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.