Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB875 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R3156 CJD-F
2	2	By: West S.B. No. 875
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to a criminal justice system pretrial and sentencing
8	8	database established by the Office of Court Administration of the
9	9	Texas Judicial System.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Chapter 72, Government Code, is amended by
12	12	adding Subchapter H to read as follows:
13	13	SUBCHAPTER H. CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM PRETRIAL AND SENTENCING
14	14	DATABASE
15	15	Sec. 72.201. DATABASE. (a) The office shall establish and
16	16	maintain a database to collect, compile, and analyze pretrial and
17	17	sentencing information for each defendant arrested for an offense
18	18	in this state.
19	19	(b) The office shall include in the database the following
20	20	information for each defendant, as applicable:
21	21	(1) the cause number of the case;
22	22	(2) the court in which the case is pending;
23	23	(3) the defendant's:
24	24	(A) date of birth;
25	25	(B) race, ethnicity, and sex;
26	26	(C) primary language; and
27	27	(D) zip code and county of primary residence;
28	28	(4) the offense for which the defendant was arrested,
29	29	including the date the offense was committed and the punishment
30	30	classification level;
31	31	(5) the date and county of arrest;
32	32	(6) the date and time the person was taken to jail
33	33	after arrest;
34	34	(7) whether the defendant was determined to be
35	35	indigent for purposes of appointment of counsel under Article
36	36	26.04, Code of Criminal Procedure;
37	37	(8) information regarding bail in the case, including:
38	38	(A) the date bail was set;
39	39	(B) the name and position of the person setting
40	40	bail;
41	41	(C) the type of bail and, for a monetary bail
42	42	bond, the amount of bail;
43	43	(D) the date of the defendant's release on bail;
44	44	(E) whether the defendant filed an affidavit
45	45	under Article 17.028(f), Code of Criminal Procedure;
46	46	(F) any conditions of release on bail; and
47	47	(G) whether the defendant was denied bail or was
48	48	unable to give bail in the amount set by the court;
49	49	(9) the length of pretrial confinement;
50	50	(10) any modification of the conditions of release on
51	51	bail after the defendant's release;
52	52	(11) whether the defendant failed to appear for a
53	53	scheduled court appearance and, if known, the reason for the
54	54	failure;
55	55	(12) whether the defendant violated a release
56	56	condition and, if so, a description of the violation;
57	57	(13) whether the defendant was arrested for committing
58	58	an offense while released on bail or community supervision;
59	59	(14) the disposition of the case, including the
60	60	sentence imposed;
61	61	(15) the date the defendant's sentence commenced; and
62	62	(16) any credit for time served.
63	63	(c) Information in the database is public information and
64	64	subject to disclosure under Chapter 552.
65	65	Sec. 72.202. SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION BY COURTS. (a) Not
66	66	later than the fifth day of each month, the clerk of each court in
67	67	this state with criminal jurisdiction shall submit to the office,
68	68	on a form prescribed by the office, the information described by
69	69	Section 72.201(b) with respect to defendants arrested for offenses
70	70	in the preceding month.
71	71	(b) In submitting the information under Subsection (a), the
72	72	clerk shall include any updated or additional information with
73	73	respect to each defendant for whom information has already been
74	74	reported.
75	75	Sec. 72.203. PUBLISHED INFORMATION. (a) Except as
76	76	provided by Subsection (d), the office shall publish deidentified
77	77	pretrial and sentencing data from the database on the office's
78	78	Internet website in a modern, open, electronic format that is
79	79	machine-readable and readily accessible by the public free of
80	80	charge. The office shall update the information on the Internet
81	81	website on an annual basis.
82	82	(b) The published data must be searchable by each item of
83	83	information described by Section 72.201(b).
84	84	(c) The data published on the office's Internet website may
85	85	not disclose the name or identifying information of a defendant.
86	86	(d) The office may not publish data at the offense level for
87	87	any offense for which there are fewer than five arrests during a
88	88	year.
89	89	Sec. 72.204. RULES. The office may adopt rules as necessary
90	90	to implement this subchapter.
91	91	SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
92	92	of this Act, the Office of Court Administration of the Texas
93	93	Judicial System shall establish the database described by Section
94	94	72.201, Government Code, as added by this Act.
95	95	SECTION 3. A court is not required to submit information to
96	96	the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System
97	97	under Section 72.202, Government Code, as added by this Act, with
98	98	respect to any defendant arrested before the effective date of this
99	99	Act.
100	100	SECTION 4. The Office of Court Administration of the Texas
101	101	Judicial System shall begin publishing pretrial and sentencing data
102	102	under Section 72.203, Government Code, as added by this Act, not
103	103	later than January 1, 2024.
104	104	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.