Bill Text: TX HB525 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Engrossed


Bill Title: Relating to databases that contain information regarding certain violent offenses or filed protective orders.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-05-12 - Received from the House [HB525 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB525-Engrossed.html
 
 
  By: Villalba, Alvarado, Morrison, H.B. No. 525
      Thompson of Harris, et al.
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to databases that contain information regarding certain
  violent offenses or filed protective orders.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 42.015(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  In the trial of an offense under Title 5 [Section 20.02,
  20.03, or 20.04], Penal Code, or an attempt, conspiracy, or
  solicitation to commit one of those offenses, the judge shall make
  an affirmative finding of fact and enter the affirmative finding in
  the judgment in the case if the judge determines that the victim or
  intended victim was younger than 17 years of age at the time of the
  offense.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 72, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subchapter G to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER G. PROTECTIVE ORDER DATABASE
         Sec. 72.201.  If funds are provided by grants offered by the
  Criminal Justice Division in the Office of the Governor, the Office
  of Court Administration, in cooperation with the Department of
  Public Safety and the courts of this state, shall work to establish
  a protective order database that contains information for a
  protective order filed under Chapter 82, Family Code, or Article
  17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, and a protective order issued
  under Chapter 83 or 85, Family Code, or Article 17.292, Code of
  Criminal Procedure.
         Sec. 72.202.  (a) The database shall include both a portal
  for governmental entities and a portal for the public.
         (b)  A publicly accessible database must consist of:
               (1)  the court that issued the protective order;
               (2)  the case number;
               (3)  the full name, county of residence, birth year,
  and race or ethnicity of the person who is the subject of the
  protective order;
               (4)  the dates the protective order was issued and
  served;
               (5)  the date the protective order was vacated, if
  applicable; and
               (6)  the date the protective order expires.
         (c)  Information for governmental entities shall include all
  information in the application and may only be viewed by officers of
  the court and their staff, a district attorney, criminal district
  attorney, county attorney, the Title IV-D agency, an entity that
  receives federal domestic violence funds, or a licensed peace
  officer, all during the course of normal business.
         SECTION 3.  Section 411.088(b), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (b)  The department may not charge for processing an
  electronic inquiry, made through the use of the Internet, for
  information described as public information under:
               (1)  Section 411.1355; or
               (2)  Article 62.005, Code of Criminal Procedure[, made
  through the use of the Internet].
         SECTION 4.  Section 411.135(a), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  Any person is entitled to obtain from the department:
               (1)  any information described as public information
  under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, including, to the
  extent available, a recent photograph of each person subject to
  registration under that chapter; [and]
               (2)  criminal history record information maintained by
  the department that relates to the conviction of or a grant of
  deferred adjudication to a person for any criminal offense,
  including arrest information that relates to the conviction or
  grant of deferred adjudication; and
               (3)  any information described as public information
  under Section 411.1355.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter F, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 411.1355 to read as follows:
         Sec. 411.1355.  CENTRAL DATABASE OF OFFENDERS WHO HAVE
  COMMITTED CERTAIN VIOLENT OFFENSES.  (a)  The department shall
  maintain a computerized central database containing information
  regarding persons who:
               (1)  on three or more occasions have been convicted of:
                     (A)  an offense for which an affirmative finding
  was made under Article 42.013 or 42.015, Code of Criminal
  Procedure;
                     (B)  an offense under Section 21.16, Penal Code,
  as added by Chapter 852 (S.B. 1135), Acts of the 84th Legislature,
  Regular Session, 2015; or
                     (C)  any combination of offenses described by
  Paragraph (A) or (B); and
               (2)  were 17 years of age or older on the date at least
  three of the offenses described by Subdivision (1) were committed.
         (b)  The information contained in the database is public
  information, with the exception of any information:
               (1)  regarding the person's social security number,
  driver's license number, or telephone number; or
               (2)  that would identify the victim of the offense.
         (c)  The database maintained by the department under this
  section must contain, to the extent the information is available to
  the department:
               (1)  the person's full name, each alias used by the
  person, and the person's date of birth;
               (2)  a physical description and recent photograph of
  the person;
               (3)  a list of offenses described by Subsection (a) for
  which the person was convicted, the date of conviction for each
  offense, and the punishment prescribed for each offense; and
               (4)  an indication as to whether the person was
  discharged, placed on community supervision, or released on parole
  or to mandatory supervision following the conviction for each
  offense.
         (d)  The department shall permit a person whose name is
  included in the database established under this section to petition
  the department for removal of the person's name from the database,
  and the department shall remove the person's name from the database
  in response to the petition if:
               (1)  an order of expunction is issued under Chapter 55,
  Code of Criminal Procedure, with respect to one of the offenses
  described by Subsection (a), unless the person has three or more
  other convictions for an offense described by that subsection; or
               (2)  during the seven-year period preceding the date of
  the petition, the person is not convicted of an offense described by
  Subsection (a).
         (e)  On the website through which a person may search the
  database described by this section, the department shall include
  information regarding:
               (1)  the manner in which a person may petition the
  department for removal of the person's name from the database;
               (2)  the circumstances under which the department will
  grant the petition; and
               (3)  contact information for family violence
  organizations.
         (f)  The department shall consult with a representative of a
  statewide advocacy organization for issues related to family
  violence regarding implementation of the database and the
  information required to be included on the database website under
  Subsection (e)(3).
         SECTION 6.  Not later than September 1, 2018, the Office of
  Court Administration shall work to establish the database required
  by Subchapter G, Chapter 72, Government Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 7.  The central database required by Section
  411.1355, Government Code, as added by this Act, must be designed
  and implemented not later than January 1, 2018, and may only include
  information concerning persons convicted of at least one offense
  described by Subsection (a) of that section committed on or after
  the effective date of this Act
  .  For purposes of this section, an
  offense was committed on or after the effective date of this Act if
  each element of the offense occurred on or after that date.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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