88R4045 CJD-F
By: Smith H.B. No. 3956
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of DNA records for a person arrested for a
felony offense and the expunction of DNA records in certain
circumstances.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 55.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) For purposes of this article, records and files relating
to an arrest include:
(1) a DNA record created under Subchapter G, Chapter
411, Government Code;
(2) any record of the collection of the specimen from
which the DNA record was created; and
(3) any record of the transfer of the specimen to the
Department of Public Safety.
SECTION 2. Section 3(c), Article 55.02, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(c) When the order of expunction is final, the clerk of the
court shall send a certified copy of the order to the director of
the Department of Public Safety for purposes of Section 411.151,
Government Code, to the Crime Records Service of the department,
[Department of Public Safety] and to each official or agency or
other governmental entity of this state or of any political
subdivision of this state named in the order. The certified copy of
the order must be sent by secure electronic mail, electronic
transmission, or facsimile transmission or otherwise by certified
mail, return receipt requested. In sending the order to a
governmental entity named in the order, the clerk may elect to
substitute hand delivery for certified mail under this subsection,
but the clerk must receive a receipt for that hand-delivered order.
SECTION 3. Sections 411.1471(a), (b), and (e), Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) This section applies to a defendant who is:
(1) arrested for any offense punishable as a felony
[prohibited under any of the following Penal Code sections:
[(A) Section 19.02;
[(B) Section 19.03;
[(C) Section 20.03;
[(D) Section 20.04;
[(E) Section 20.05;
[(F) Section 20.06;
[(G) Section 20A.02;
[(H) Section 20A.03;
[(I) Section 21.02;
[(J) Section 21.11;
[(K) Section 22.01;
[(L) Section 22.011;
[(M) Section 22.02;
[(N) Section 22.021;
[(O) Section 25.02;
[(P) Section 29.02;
[(Q) Section 29.03;
[(R) Section 30.02;
[(S) Section 31.03;
[(T) Section 43.03;
[(U) Section 43.04;
[(V) Section 43.05;
[(W) Section 43.25; or
[(X) Section 43.26]; or
(2) convicted of an offense:
(A) under Title 5, Penal Code, [other than an
offense described by Subdivision (1),] that is punishable as a
Class A misdemeanor [or any higher category of offense], except for
an offense punishable as a Class A misdemeanor under Section 22.05,
Penal Code; or
(B) punishable as a Class A or B misdemeanor, as
applicable, under Section 21.08, 25.04, [43.021,] or 43.24, Penal
Code.
(b) A law enforcement agency booking [arresting] a
defendant described by Subsection (a)(1), immediately after
fingerprinting the defendant and at the same location as the
fingerprinting occurs, shall require the defendant to provide one
or more specimens for the purpose of creating a DNA record.
(e) As soon as practicable after the [Notwithstanding
Subsection (d), on] acquittal of a defendant described by
Subsection (a)(1) or dismissal of the case against the defendant,
or after a defendant [an individual] has been granted relief in
accordance with a writ of habeas corpus that is based on a court
finding or determination that the defendant [person] is actually
innocent of a crime for which the defendant [person] was sentenced,
the court shall provide notice of the acquittal, dismissal, or
grant of relief to the law enforcement agency that took [taking] the
specimen and the department and shall request that the director
expunge the defendant's DNA record from the DNA database under
Section 411.151. On receipt of the notice, the law enforcement
agency shall immediately destroy the record of the collection of
the specimen, and the department shall destroy the specimen and the
record of its receipt. The court shall promptly notify the
defendant and the defendant's attorney after the notices required
by this subsection have been provided [As soon as practicable after
the acquittal of the defendant or the dismissal of the case, the
court shall provide notice of the acquittal or dismissal to the
applicable law enforcement agency and the department].
SECTION 4. Section 411.151(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The director shall expunge a DNA record of an individual
from a DNA database if [the person]:
(1) the director receives:
(A) an order of expunction under Article 55.02,
Code of Criminal Procedure [notifies the director in writing that
the DNA record has been ordered to be expunged under this section or
Chapter 55, Code of Criminal Procedure, and provides the director
with a certified copy of the court order that expunges the DNA
record]; or
(B) a request from a court under Section
411.1471(e); or
(2) the person provides the director with a certified
copy of a court order issued under Subchapter C-1, Chapter 58,
Family Code, that seals the juvenile record of the adjudication
that resulted in the DNA record.
SECTION 5. Section 411.151(b), Government Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 6. Articles 55.01 and 55.02, Code of Criminal
Procedure, as amended by this Act, apply only to an order of
expunction of arrest records and files issued on or after the
effective date of this Act, regardless of when the underlying
arrest occurred.
SECTION 7. Section 411.1471, Government Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the
effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense
was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element
of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.