87R9432 JSC-D
By: Crockett H.B. No. 1944
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to automatic expunction of arrest records and files for
certain persons who are tried for an offense and subsequently
acquitted.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1, Article 55.02, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1. The [At the request of the acquitted person and
after notice to the state, or at the request of the attorney for the
state with the consent of the acquitted person, the] trial court
presiding over the case in which the person was acquitted, if the
trial court is a district court, a justice court, or a municipal
court of record, or a district court in the county in which the
trial court is located shall enter an order of expunction for a
person entitled to expunction under Article 55.01(a)(1)(A) not
later than the 30th day after the date of the acquittal. [On
acquittal, the trial court shall advise the acquitted person of the
right to expunction. The party requesting the order of expunction
shall provide to the court all of the information required in a
petition for expunction under Section 2(b).] The attorney for the
acquitted person in the case in which the person was acquitted, if
the person was represented by counsel, or the attorney for the
state, if the person was not represented by counsel or if the
attorney for the state requested the order of expunction, shall
prepare the order for the court's signature. If the trial court is
not a district court, a justice court, or a municipal court of
record, the trial court shall forward the proposed order, and all
information required in a petition for expunction under Section
2(b), to a district court in the county to proceed in the manner
provided by this section.
SECTION 2. (a) This Act applies to the expunction of arrest
records and files for a person entitled to that expunction under
Article 55.01(a)(1)(A), Code of Criminal Procedure, before, on, or
after the effective date of this Act, regardless of when the
underlying arrest occurred.
(b) For a person who is entitled to expunction under Article
55.01(a)(1)(A), Code of Criminal Procedure, based on an acquittal
that occurred before the effective date of this Act,
notwithstanding the 30-day time limit provided for the court to
enter an automatic order of expunction under Section 1, Article
55.02, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by this Act, the court
shall enter an order of expunction for the person as soon as
practicable after the court receives written notice from any party
to the case about the person's entitlement to the expunction.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.