Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1195 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R3474 DNC-D
2	2	By: Birdwell S.B. No. 1195
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the procedures for removing names from the central
10	10	registry of child abuse and neglect.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Chapter 261, Family Code, is amended by adding
13	13	Subchapter G to read as follows:
14	14	SUBCHAPTER G. REMOVING NAMES FROM CENTRAL REGISTRY OF ABUSE AND
15	15	NEGLECT
16	16	Sec. 261.601. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "central
17	17	registry" means the central registry of the names of persons found
18	18	by the department to have abused or neglected a child maintained by
19	19	the department under Section 261.002.
20	20	Sec. 261.602. NONAPPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This
21	21	subchapter does not apply to persons alleged to have abused or
22	22	neglected a child in:
23	23	(1) a child-care facility or family home as defined by
24	24	Section 42.002, Human Resources Code; or
25	25	(2) a public or private primary or secondary school.
26	26	Sec. 261.603. EXPUNGEMENT REVIEW PANEL; MEMBERS. (a) The
27	27	department shall establish expungement review panels to review
28	28	requests to have a person's name removed from the central registry.
29	29	(b) An expungement review panel is composed of the general
30	30	counsel of the department or the general counsel's designee, the
31	31	department's chief consumer affairs and accountability officer or
32	32	the officer's designee, and a member of the State Bar of Texas
33	33	appointed by the commissioner of the department.
34	34	(c) The department shall create and maintain a list of
35	35	volunteers from which to select a member of the State Bar of Texas
36	36	for an expungement review panel.
37	37	(d) A member of the State Bar of Texas who volunteers to
38	38	serve on an expungement review panel must be board certified in
39	39	child welfare or family law and have a history of representing
40	40	families in suits affecting the parent-child relationship in which
41	41	the department is a party to the suit. A member of the State Bar of
42	42	Texas may not serve on an expungement review panel reviewing a
43	43	request from a person if the member represented any party in a suit
44	44	involving the person that resulted in the finding of abuse or
45	45	neglect at issue in the review.
46	46	(e) The members of the expungement review panel are immune
47	47	from civil or criminal liability for any act or omission that
48	48	relates to their duty or responsibility as a member of the review
49	49	panel if they acted in good faith and within the scope of their
50	50	responsibility, as provided in Section 40.061, Human Resources
51	51	Code.
52	52	(f) Information and documents considered by an expungement
53	53	review panel are confidential, and a member of the panel may not
54	54	disclose any information or documents considered by the panel.
55	55	Sec. 261.604. REQUEST FOR REMOVAL OF NAME. (a) A person
56	56	who desires to have the person's name removed from the central
57	57	registry must submit a written request to the commissioner of the
58	58	department.
59	59	(b) A person may not make a request under this section
60	60	before the second anniversary of the date the department added the
61	61	person's name to the central registry.
62	62	(c) If an expungement review panel denies a request under
63	63	this section after a hearing, the person may not submit a subsequent
64	64	request until the first anniversary of the date the review panel
65	65	rendered a decision on the person's most recent request.
66	66	(d) A person may not make a request under this section for
67	67	more than three hearings on a single finding of child abuse or
68	68	neglect within a 10-year period.
69	69	(e) A person who has been determined by the department to
70	70	have engaged in child abuse or neglect is not eligible for a review
71	71	under this subchapter if:
72	72	(1) the incident of abuse or neglect resulted in a
73	73	child fatality or near fatality;
74	74	(2) a court ordered termination of the parent-child
75	75	relationship as a result of the abuse or neglect; or
76	76	(3) following the date of the department's
77	77	determination, the department makes another substantiated finding
78	78	of abuse or neglect by the person or the person was convicted or
79	79	placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for an
80	80	offense involving child abuse or neglect.
81	81	Sec. 261.605. HEARING DATE AND NOTICE; LIMITATION. (a) On
82	82	receipt of a request under Section 261.604(a), the commissioner of
83	83	the department shall establish an expungement review panel under
84	84	Section 261.603 and notify the panel of the request. The review
85	85	panel shall set a date for a hearing on the request. The review
86	86	panel shall hold the hearing not later than the 60th day after the
87	87	date the commissioner of the department receives the request.
88	88	(b) Not later than the 15th day before the hearing, the
89	89	expungement review panel shall send written notice of the hearing
90	90	to the requestor. The notice must include:
91	91	(1) the date, time, and location of the hearing; and
92	92	(2) the regional office that conducted the original
93	93	investigation that resulted in the finding of abuse or neglect.
94	94	(c) An expungement review panel may conduct a hearing by
95	95	telephone conference call, videoconference, or another similar
96	96	telecommunications method if the panel determines that the method
97	97	of appearance will facilitate the hearing.
98	98	Sec. 261.606. REVIEW HEARING. (a) At the hearing, the
99	99	person requesting the review has the right to be represented by
100	100	legal counsel.
101	101	(b) The person requesting the review has the burden of
102	102	providing the expungement review panel with the basis for granting
103	103	the request and may present evidence supporting removal of the
104	104	person's name from the central registry.
105	105	(c) The regional office of the department that conducted the
106	106	original investigation may:
107	107	(1) present evidence in support of or in opposition to
108	108	the request; and
109	109	(2) make a recommendation regarding the request.
110	110	Sec. 261.607. EXPUNGEMENT REVIEW PANEL'S DECISION. (a)
111	111	The panel shall render a written decision on the request that
112	112	includes the review panel's reasons for the decision not later than
113	113	the 30th day after the date of the hearing. The review panel's
114	114	decision must be by majority vote.
115	115	(b) Not later than the 45th day after the date of the
116	116	hearing, the expungement review panel shall provide the written
117	117	decision to the person requesting the review and to the
118	118	department's commissioner, deputy commissioner, chief of staff,
119	119	and associate commissioner for child protective investigations.
120	120	(c) The expungement review panel shall consider the
121	121	following factors in making its decision:
122	122	(1) the department's findings regarding the nature and
123	123	severity of the incident of abuse or neglect and the circumstances
124	124	surrounding the incident;
125	125	(2) the number of findings of abuse or neglect
126	126	involving the person;
127	127	(3) the person's age at the time of the incident, and
128	128	whether the person was a child at the time of the incident;
129	129	(4) whether the circumstances that contributed to the
130	130	incident of abuse or neglect still exist;
131	131	(5) actions taken by the person since the incident to
132	132	prevent the reoccurrence of abuse or neglect, including
133	133	participation in and completion of services and programs related to
134	134	the allegations;
135	135	(6) evidence that:
136	136	(A) the person no longer poses a similar risk;
137	137	and
138	138	(B) continued listing of the person's name in the
139	139	central registry would not serve a significant public purpose; and
140	140	(7) any other relevant information that shows that the
141	141	person no longer poses a risk to the safety and well-being of the
142	142	alleged victim, other children, and vulnerable adults.
143	143	(d) If the expungement review panel grants a person's
144	144	request for removal from the central registry, the department
145	145	shall, not later than the 10th day after rendering the decision,
146	146	remove the person's name from the central registry and update any
147	147	relevant department files to reflect the removal and the reasons
148	148	for removal given in the decision.
149	149	Sec. 261.608. AUTOMATIC REMOVAL. (a) The department shall
150	150	remove a person's name and related information from the central
151	151	registry if more than 18 years have passed since the department's
152	152	last finding of abuse or neglect against the person, unless any
153	153	finding of abuse or neglect against the person involved aggravated
154	154	circumstances described by Section 262.2015(b).
155	155	(b) The department shall remove a person's name and related
156	156	information from the central registry if:
157	157	(1) the person was a minor at the time of the incident
158	158	that resulted in the finding of abuse or neglect against the person;
159	159	(2) more than two years have passed since the
160	160	department's last finding of abuse or neglect against the person;
161	161	and
162	162	(3) the incident that resulted in the finding of abuse
163	163	or neglect against the person did not involve sexual abuse,
164	164	fatality, or near fatality.
165	165	Sec. 261.609. CONFIDENTIALITY. The review conducted under
166	166	this subchapter and any records or documents related to the review
167	167	are confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
168	168	Government Code.
169	169	Sec. 261.610. RULEMAKING. The commissioner of the
170	170	department shall adopt rules necessary to implement this
171	171	subchapter, including rules to ensure substantial compliance with
172	172	this subchapter.
173	173	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.