88R973 LHC-D
By: Wu H.B. No. 503
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the jurisdiction of a juvenile court over certain
persons and to the sealing and nondisclosure of certain juvenile
records.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.0412, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 51.0412. JURISDICTION OVER INCOMPLETE PROCEEDINGS.
The court retains jurisdiction over a person, without regard to the
age of the person, who is a respondent in an adjudication
proceeding, a disposition proceeding, a proceeding to modify
disposition, a proceeding for waiver of jurisdiction and transfer
to criminal court under Section 54.02(a), or a motion for transfer
of determinate sentence probation to an appropriate district court
if:
(1) the petition or motion was filed while the
respondent was younger than 18 or 19 years of age, as applicable;
(2) the proceeding is not complete before the
respondent becomes 18 or 19 years of age, as applicable; and
(3) the court enters a finding in the proceeding that:
(A) the prosecuting attorney exercised due
diligence in an attempt to complete the proceeding before the
respondent became 18 or 19 years of age, as applicable; or
(B) the proceeding has been delayed through no
fault of the state.
SECTION 2. Section 58.256, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read
as follows:
(d) A court may not order the sealing of the records of a
person who:
(1) received a determinate sentence and was
transferred to district court under Section 54.051 or 54.11 [for
engaging in:
[(A) delinquent conduct that violated a penal law
listed under Section 53.045; or
[(B) habitual felony conduct as described by
Section 51.031];
(2) is currently required to register as a sex
offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure; or
(3) was committed to the Texas Juvenile Justice
Department or to a post-adjudication secure correctional facility
under former Section 54.04011, unless the person has been
discharged from the agency to which the person was committed.
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f), on [On] receipt of
an application under this section, the court may:
(1) order the sealing of the person's records
immediately, without a hearing; or
(2) hold a hearing under Section 58.257 at the court's
discretion to determine whether to order the sealing of the
person's records.
(f) On receipt of an application under this section from a
person who received a determinate sentence and was not transferred
to a district court under Section 54.051 or 54.11, the court shall
hold a hearing under Section 58.257 to determine whether it is in
the best interest of the person and of justice to order the sealing
of the person's records and may order the records to be sealed.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
conduct violating a penal law of this state that occurs on or after
the effective date of this Act. Conduct violating a penal law of
this state that occurs before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct occurred, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, conduct occurred before the effective
date of this Act if any element of the conduct occurred before that
date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.