Bill Text: TX SB779 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to a central database containing information about certain persons who have been convicted of or received a grant of deferred adjudication for certain offenses involving animal cruelty; providing a criminal penalty.

Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-11 - Left pending in committee [SB779 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB779-Engrossed.html

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By: Whitmire, Huffman S.B. No. 779

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a central database containing information about certain
persons who have been convicted of or received a grant of deferred
adjudication for certain offenses involving animal cruelty;
providing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 1, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
by adding Chapter 61A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 61A. ANIMAL CRUELTY REGISTRATION PROGRAM
Art. 61A.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Department" means the Department of Public Safety
of the State of Texas.
(2) "Local law enforcement authority" and "penal
institution" have the meanings assigned by Article 62.001.
Art. 61A.02. CENTRAL DATABASE; PUBLIC INFORMATION. (a) To
the extent that funding is available under Article 61A.07, the
department shall establish and maintain a computerized central
database containing information regarding persons who:
(1) have been convicted of or received a grant of
deferred adjudication for one or more felony offenses under Section
42.092 or 42.10, Penal Code; and
(2) were 17 years of age or older at the time of the
offense.
(b) If a computerized central database is established by the
department under Subsection (a), a person described by that
subsection shall register as required by this chapter until the
10th anniversary of the date the person was last convicted of or
received a grant of deferred adjudication for an offense described
by Subsection (a)(1).
(c) The information contained in the database is public
information, with the exception of any information regarding the
person's social security number, driver's license number, or
telephone number.
(d) The department shall publish on its Internet website all
public information contained in the database.
(e) To the extent that funding is available under Article
61A.07, the department, in cooperation with the Board of Pardons
and Paroles, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and the
Commission on Jail Standards, by rule shall design and implement a
system for the registration of persons described by Subsection (a).
The system must establish requirements and procedures for:
(1) a person described by Subsection (a) to be
notified, before the person's discharge or release, of the person's
duty to register with a local law enforcement authority for the
period required by Subsection (b);
(2) the person to register or verify registration with
a local law enforcement authority:
(A) annually;
(B) every 90 days if the person is determined by
the department to be high-risk because of the person's status as a
repeat offender; or
(C) every 30 days if the person does not have a
permanent address;
(3) the person to register with a local law
enforcement authority not later than five days after the date the
person changes address;
(4) the database to track whether a person described
by Subsection (a) is in compliance with registration requirements
and, if the person is not in compliance, to make that information
available to other persons requesting the information;
(5) a local law enforcement authority to promptly
forward registration information to the department for use in the
database;
(6) the database to track whether a person described
by Subsection (a) is attending or is planning to attend a public or
private institution of higher education and, if so, the department
to promptly forward that information to the applicable institution
of higher education;
(7) the inclusion in the database and on the
department's Internet website of a recent photograph of the person,
updated annually; and
(8) the department to update the database daily.
Art. 61A.03. INFORMATION PROVIDED TO PEACE OFFICER ON
REQUEST. The department shall establish a procedure by which a
peace officer or employee of a law enforcement agency who provides
the department with a driver's license number, personal
identification certificate number, or license plate number is
automatically provided information as to whether the person to whom
the driver's license or personal identification certificate is
issued is required to register under this chapter or whether the
license plate number is entered in the computerized central
database under Article 61A.02 as assigned to a vehicle owned or
driven by a person required to register under this chapter.
Art. 61A.04. IMMUNITY FOR RELEASE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION.
(a) The department, a penal institution, or a local law
enforcement authority may release to the public information
regarding a person required to register under this chapter only if
the information is public information under Article 61A.02(c).
(b) An individual, agency, entity, or authority is not
liable under Chapter 101, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, or any
other law for damages arising from conduct authorized by Subsection
(a).
(c) For purposes of determining liability, the release or
withholding of information by an appointed or elected officer of an
agency, entity, or authority is a discretionary act.
(d) A public or private institution of higher education or
administrator of a public or private institution of higher
education may release to the public information regarding a person
required to register under this chapter only if the information is
public information under Article 61A.02(c) and is released to the
administrator under Article 61A.02. A public or private
institution of higher education or administrator of a public or
private institution of higher education is not liable under any law
for damages arising from conduct authorized by this subsection.
Art. 61A.05. EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION FOR CERTAIN ANIMAL
CRUELTY OFFENDERS. (a) A person required to register under this
chapter may petition the court having jurisdiction over the case
for an order exempting the person from registration under this
chapter at any time after the person's sentencing or after the
person is placed on deferred adjudication.
(b) After a hearing on the petition described by Subsection
(a), the court may issue an order exempting the person from
registration under this chapter if the court finds that an
exemption would be in the best interest of justice.
(c) An order exempting the person from registration under
this chapter does not expire, except that the court may withdraw the
order if after the order is issued the person receives another
conviction or a grant of deferred adjudication for a misdemeanor or
felony offense under Section 42.092 or 42.10, Penal Code.
Art. 61A.06. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH REGISTRATION
REQUIREMENTS. (a) A person commits an offense if the person is
required to register and fails to comply with any requirement of
this chapter.
(b) An offense under this article is a Class C misdemeanor.
Art. 61A.07. FUNDING. The department may solicit and
accept a gift, grant, or donation from any source, including a
foundation, private entity, governmental entity, or institution of
higher education, for the establishment and maintenance of the
computerized central database described by this chapter and the
implementation of a related system of registration under this
chapter. The department shall establish and maintain the database
and implement the registration system only if sufficient funds are
available under this article for those purposes.
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 411.135, 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 61A or 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, [as added by
Chapter 668, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,]
including, to the extent available, a recent photograph of each
person subject to registration under Chapter 61A or 62 [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.
SECTION 3. (a) Chapter 61A, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
added by this Act, applies only to a person who is convicted of or
receives a grant of deferred adjudication for an offense committed
on or after the effective date of this Act. A person who is
convicted of or receives a grant of deferred adjudication for an
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this subsection, an offense was committed before the effective date
of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
(b) As soon as practicable after sufficient funding becomes
available under Article 61A.07, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
added by this Act:
(1) the Department of Public Safety of the State of
Texas shall establish the requirements and procedures required by
Subsection (e), Article 61A.02, and Article 61A.03, Code of
Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act; and
(2) the central database required by Chapter 61A, Code
of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, must be designed and
implemented.
SECTION 4. 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, 2011.