S.B. No. 167

	AN ACT
	relating to the automatic expunction of arrest records and files
	after an individual receives a pardon or a grant of certain other
	relief with respect to the offense for which the individual was
	arrested.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Article 55.01, Code of Criminal
	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	(a)  A person who has been placed under a custodial or
	noncustodial arrest for commission of either a felony or
	misdemeanor is entitled to have all records and files relating to
	the arrest expunged if:
	(1)  the person is tried for the offense for which the
	person was arrested and is:
	(A)  acquitted by the trial court, except as
	provided by Subsection (c) of this section; or
	(B)  convicted and subsequently:
	(i)  pardoned; or
	(ii)  otherwise granted relief on the basis
	of actual innocence with respect to that offense; or
	(2)  each of the following conditions exist:
	(A)  an indictment or information charging the
	person with commission of a felony has not been presented against
	the person for an offense arising out of the transaction for which
	the person was arrested or, if an indictment or information
	charging the person with commission of a felony was presented, the
	indictment or information has been dismissed or quashed, and:
	(i)  the limitations period expired before
	the date on which a petition for expunction was filed under Article
	55.02; or
	(ii)  the court finds that the indictment or
	information was dismissed or quashed because the person completed a
	pretrial intervention program authorized under Section 76.011,
	Government Code, or because the presentment had been made because
	of mistake, false information, or other similar reason indicating
	absence of probable cause at the time of the dismissal to believe
	the person committed the offense or because it was void;
	(B)  the person has been released and the charge,
	if any, has not resulted in a final conviction and is no longer
	pending and there was no court ordered community supervision under
	Article 42.12 for any offense other than a Class C misdemeanor; and
	(C)  the person has not been convicted of a felony
	in the five years preceding the date of the arrest.
	SECTION 2.  Article 55.02, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
	amended by adding Section 1a to read as follows:
	Sec. 1a.  (a)  The trial court presiding over a case in which
	a defendant is convicted and subsequently granted relief or
	pardoned on the basis of actual innocence of the offense of which
	the defendant was convicted, if the trial court is a district court,
	or a district court in the county in which the trial court is
	located, shall enter an order of expunction for a person entitled to
	expunction under Article 55.01(a)(1)(B) not later than the 30th day
	after the date the court receives notice of the pardon or other
	grant of relief. The person shall provide to the district court all
	of the information required in a petition for expunction under
	Section 2(b).
	(b)  The attorney for the state shall:
	(1)  prepare an expunction order under this section for
	the court's signature; and
	(2)  notify the Texas Department of Criminal Justice if
	the person is in the custody of the department.
	(c)  The court shall include in an expunction order under
	this section a listing of each official, agency, or other entity of
	this state or political subdivision of this state and each private
	entity that there is reason to believe has any record or file that
	is subject to the order.  The court shall also provide in an
	expunction order under this section that:
	(1)  the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
	send to the court the documents delivered to the department under
	Section 8(a), Article 42.09; and
	(2)  the Department of Public Safety and the Texas
	Department of Criminal Justice shall delete or redact, as
	appropriate, from their public records all index references to the
	records and files that are subject to the expunction order.
	(d)  The court shall retain all documents sent to the court
	under Subsection (c)(1) until the statute of limitations has run
	for any civil case or proceeding relating to the wrongful
	imprisonment of the person subject to the expunction order.
	SECTION 3.  Subsection (a), Section 2, Article 55.02, Code
	of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	(a)  A person who is entitled to expunction of records and
	files under Article 55.01(a)(2) [55.01(a)] or a person who is
	eligible for expunction of records and files under Article 55.01(b)
	may file an ex parte petition for expunction in a district court for
	the county in which:
	(1)  the petitioner was arrested; or
	(2)  the offense was alleged to have occurred.
	SECTION 4.  Subsection (c), Section 3, Article 55.02, Code
	of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	(c)  When the order of expunction is final, the clerk of the
	court shall send a certified copy of the order to the Crime Records
	Service of the Department of Public Safety and to each official or
	agency or other governmental entity of this state or of any
	political subdivision of this state named in [designated by the
	person who is the subject of] the order.  The certified copy of the
	order must be sent by secure electronic mail, electronic
	transmission, or facsimile transmission or otherwise by certified
	mail, return receipt requested.  In sending the order to a
	governmental entity named in the order [designated by the person],
	the clerk may elect to substitute hand delivery for certified mail
	under this subsection, but the clerk must receive a receipt for that
	hand-delivered order.
	SECTION 5.  Subsection (a), Section 5, Article 55.02, Code
	of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	(a)  Except as provided by Subsections (f) and (g), on
	receipt of the order, each official or agency or other governmental
	entity named in the order shall:
	(1)  return all records and files that are subject to
	the expunction order to the court or in cases other than those
	described by Section 1a, if removal is impracticable, obliterate
	all portions of the record or file that identify the person who is
	the subject of the order and notify the court of its action; and
	(2)  delete from its public records all index
	references to the records and files that are subject to the
	expunction order.
	SECTION 6.  This Act applies to the expunction of arrest
	records related to a criminal offense for which a pardon or other
	relief on the basis of actual innocence was granted before, on, or
	after the effective date of this Act.
	SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 167 passed the Senate on
	April 19, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
	the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 26, 2011, by the
	following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 167 passed the House, with
	amendment, on May 23, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 142,
	Nays 0, one present not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	Approved:
	______________________________
	Date
	______________________________
	Governor