85R5910 LHC-D
	By: Garcia	S.B. No. 1165

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to judicial proceedings on a petition to set aside a
	conviction or an order of expunction of arrest records and files for
	certain victims of trafficking of persons or compelling
	prostitution who are convicted of certain offenses.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
	amended by adding Article 42.13 to read as follows:
	Art. 42.13.  SETTING ASIDE CONVICTION FOR VICTIMS OF
	TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS OR COMPELLING PROSTITUTION. (a)  A court in
	which a defendant has been convicted of an offense that is not a
	crime of violence, as defined by Article 59.01, may, if the court
	retains jurisdiction in the case, hear a petition from the
	defendant to set aside the order of conviction. The petition must
	allege specific facts that, if proved, would establish that the
	petitioner committed the offense solely as a victim of an offense
	under Section 20A.02, 20A.03, or 43.05, Penal Code. The petitioner
	may submit with the petition a document of a federal, state, local,
	or tribal governmental agency indicating that the petitioner
	committed the offense solely as a victim of trafficking of persons
	or compelling prostitution, as applicable.
	(b)  On the filing of the petition under Subsection (a), the
	clerk of the court shall promptly serve a copy of the petition and
	any supporting document on the appropriate office of the attorney
	representing the state. Any response to the petition by the
	attorney representing the state must be filed not later than the
	20th business day after the date of service under this subsection.
	(c)  If in considering the petition, any supporting
	document, and any response of the attorney representing the state
	the court finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe the
	facts alleged in the petition or if the petitioner submits a
	document of a governmental agency described by Subsection (a), the
	court shall order a hearing on the petition. The court shall dismiss
	the petition and shall promptly notify the petitioner of the
	court's decision if the court finds that there are not any
	reasonable grounds to believe the alleged facts exist or if the
	petitioner has filed a previous petition under this article based
	solely on the same evidence. The court may not dismiss the petition
	if the petitioner submits a document of a governmental agency
	described by Subsection (a).
	(d)  After the court orders a hearing under this article, the
	court, as the court considers necessary to ensure a fair hearing on
	the petition, may order any discovery from the attorney
	representing the state or from the petitioner. An order of
	discovery may include any order for probative evidence relevant to
	proving or disproving the petitioner's claim of having committed
	the offense solely as a victim of an offense under Section 20A.02,
	20A.03, or 43.05, Penal Code. A document of a governmental agency
	described by Subsection (a) creates a presumption that the
	petitioner's claim is true.
	(e)  If after the court orders a hearing under this article
	the court finds that, based on the sworn statements of the
	petitioner or based on submitted evidence or affidavits, the
	petitioner is not represented by an attorney and is indigent, the
	court shall appoint an attorney to represent the petitioner at the
	hearing and, if appropriate, before the court of appeals and the
	court of criminal appeals.
	(f)  At the conclusion of the hearing, the court shall make a
	finding as to whether the petitioner's claim of having committed
	the offense solely as a victim of trafficking of persons or
	compelling prostitution is true.
	(g)  The court may set aside the order of conviction for the
	offense if the court finds that the petitioner committed the
	offense solely as a victim of trafficking of persons or compelling
	prostitution and that set-aside is in the best interest of justice.
	(h)  The court reporter shall record a hearing under this
	article. If the court makes a finding that the petitioner committed
	the offense solely as a victim of trafficking of persons or
	compelling prostitution, and if the petitioner is indigent, the
	court reporter shall transcribe the hearing, including the finding,
	at the county's expense. The entire record must be included with an
	application for appeal filed as described by this article.
	(i)  The petitioner and the attorney representing the state
	may appeal the findings of the court in the same manner as an appeal
	of a conviction in a criminal case.
	(j)  A petition filed under this article and a proceeding
	conducted under this article do not constitute an application for a
	writ of habeas corpus or a proceeding based on an application for a
	writ of habeas corpus. A restriction on filing a subsequent
	application for a writ of habeas corpus imposed by Article 11.07
	does not apply to a petition or proceeding under this article.
	(k)  This article is not intended to preclude a petitioner
	from receiving a reduction or termination of community supervision
	and a set-aside of verdict under Article 42A.701 if the petitioner
	is otherwise qualified to receive a dismissal under that article.
	(l)  For purposes of this article, the jurisdiction of a
	court in which a defendant has been convicted of an offense that is
	not a crime of violence, as defined by Article 59.01, continues for
	a period of five years beginning on the date the conviction is
	entered.
	SECTION 2.  Article 42A.105, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
	amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
	(g)  If a judge dismisses proceedings against a defendant
	charged with an offense that is not a crime of violence, as defined
	by Article 59.01, and discharges the defendant, the judge may make
	an affirmative finding of fact and file a statement of that
	affirmative finding with the papers in the case if the judge
	determines that the defendant engaged in the applicable conduct
	solely as a victim of an offense under Section 20A.02, 20A.03, or
	43.05, Penal Code.
	SECTION 3.  Article 55.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
	amended by adding Subsection (a-3) to read as follows:
	(a-3)  A person who has been placed under a custodial or
	noncustodial arrest for commission of an offense that is not a crime
	of violence, as defined by Article 59.01, is entitled to have all
	records and files relating to the arrest expunged in the same manner
	provided for a person described by Subsection (a), if a court
	determines under Article 42.13(f) that the person committed the
	offense solely as a victim of trafficking of persons or compelling
	prostitution. If the attorney representing the state establishes a
	need for law enforcement agencies, for the purpose of investigating
	trafficking of persons or compelling prostitution offenses, to have
	access to evidence contained in the arrest records or files of a
	person entitled to an expunction under this subsection, at the
	request of the attorney representing the state, the court may
	provide in its expunction order that a law enforcement agency may
	retain those records and files, provided that the person's personal
	information has been redacted from those records and files.
	SECTION 4.  (a)  Article 42.13, Code of Criminal Procedure,
	as added by this Act, applies to a petition to set aside a
	conviction that is filed on or after the effective date of this Act,
	regardless of whether the offense that is the subject of the
	petition occurred before, on, or after the effective date of this
	Act.
	(b)  Article 42A.105(g), Code of Criminal Procedure, as
	added by this Act, applies to a discharge and dismissal that occurs
	on or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether
	the offense for which the defendant was placed on deferred
	adjudication community supervision occurred before, on, or after
	the effective date of this Act.
	(c)  Article 55.01(a-3), Code of Criminal Procedure, as
	added by this Act, applies to a petition for expunction filed on or
	after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the
	offense that is the subject of the petition occurred before, on, or
	after the effective date of this Act.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.