88R22909 CJD-F
By: Bowers, et al. H.B. No. 2043
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2043:
By: Moody C.S.H.B. No. 2043
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a criminal justice system pretrial and sentencing
database established by the Office of Court Administration of the
Texas Judicial System.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 72, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter H to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER H. CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM PRETRIAL AND SENTENCING
DATABASE
Sec. 72.201. DATABASE. (a) The office shall establish and
maintain a database to collect, compile, and analyze pretrial and
sentencing information for each defendant arrested for an offense
in this state.
(b) The office shall include in the database the following
information for each defendant, as applicable:
(1) the cause number of the case;
(2) the court in which the case is pending;
(3) the defendant's:
(A) date of birth;
(B) race, ethnicity, and sex;
(C) primary language; and
(D) zip code and county of residence provided at
arrest;
(4) the offense for which the defendant was arrested,
including the date the offense was committed and the punishment
classification level;
(5) the date and county of arrest;
(6) the date and time the person was taken to jail
after arrest;
(7) whether the defendant was determined to be
indigent for purposes of appointment of counsel under Article
26.04, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(8) information regarding bail in the case, including:
(A) the date bail was set;
(B) the name and position of the person setting
bail;
(C) the type of bail and, for a monetary bail
bond, the amount of bail;
(D) the date of the defendant's release on bail;
(E) whether the defendant filed an affidavit
under Article 17.028(f), Code of Criminal Procedure;
(F) any conditions of release on bail;
(G) whether the defendant was denied bail; and
(H) whether the defendant remained in jail after
bail was set;
(9) the length of pretrial confinement;
(10) any modification of the conditions of release on
bail after the defendant's release;
(11) whether the defendant failed to appear for a
scheduled court appearance;
(12) whether the defendant's release on bail was
revoked due to a violation of a condition of release;
(13) whether the defendant was arrested for committing
an offense while released on bail or community supervision in the
same county as the previous offense;
(14) the disposition of the case, including the
sentence imposed;
(15) the date the defendant's sentence commenced; and
(16) any credit for time served.
(c) Information in the database is public information and
subject to disclosure under Chapter 552.
Sec. 72.202. SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION. (a) Each law
enforcement agency in this state shall collect the information
described by Section 72.201(b) and, not later than the fifth day of
each month, submit the information to the clerk of the court in
which the applicable case is pending.
(b) Not later than the 10th day of each month, the clerk of
each court in this state with criminal jurisdiction shall submit to
the office, on a form prescribed by the office, the information
described by Section 72.201(b) with respect to defendants arrested
for offenses in the preceding month.
(c) In submitting the information, the law enforcement
agency and clerk shall include any updated or additional
information with respect to each defendant for whom information has
already been reported.
Sec. 72.203. PUBLISHED INFORMATION. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (d), the office shall publish deidentified
pretrial and sentencing data from the database on the office's
Internet website in a modern, open, electronic format that is
machine-readable and readily accessible by the public free of
charge. The office shall update the information on the Internet
website on an annual basis.
(b) The published data must be searchable by each item of
information described by Section 72.201(b).
(c) The data published on the office's Internet website may
not disclose the name or identifying information of a defendant.
(d) The office may not publish data at the offense level for
any offense for which there are fewer than five arrests during a
year.
Sec. 72.204. RULES. The office may adopt rules as necessary
to implement this subchapter.
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Office of Court Administration of the Texas
Judicial System shall establish the database described by Section
72.201, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. A law enforcement agency or court is not required
to submit information under Section 72.202, Government Code, as
added by this Act, with respect to any defendant arrested before the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. The Office of Court Administration of the Texas
Judicial System shall begin publishing pretrial and sentencing data
under Section 72.203, Government Code, as added by this Act, not
later than January 1, 2024.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.