Non-Disclosure Record Law
411.081. APPLICATION OF SUBCHAPTER.
(a) This subchapter does not apply
to criminal history record information that is contained in:
(1) posters, announcements, or lists for identifying or apprehending
fugitives or wanted persons;
(2) original records of entry, including police blotters maintained
by a criminal justice agency that are compiled
chronologically and required by law or long-standing practice to be
available to the public;
(3) public judicial, administrative, or legislative proceedings;
(4) court records of public judicial proceedings;
(5) published judicial or administrative opinions; or
(6) announcements of executive clemency.
(b) This subchapter does not prohibit a criminal justice agency from disclosing
to the public criminal history record information that is related to the
offense for which a person is involved in the criminal justice system.
(c) This subchapter does not prohibit a criminal justice
agency from confirming previous criminal history record
information to any person on specific inquiry about whether a named
person was arrested, detained, indicted, or formally charged on a
specified date, if the information disclosed is based on data
excluded by Subsection (b).
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter,
if a person is placed on deferred adjudication community
supervision under Section 5, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, subsequently receives a discharge and dismissal under
Section 5(c), Article 42.12, and satisfies the requirements of
Subsection (e), the person may petition the court that placed the
defendant on deferred adjudication for an order of nondisclosure
under this subsection. Except as provided by Subsection (e), a
person may petition the court under this subsection regardless of
whether the person has been previously placed on deferred
adjudication community supervision for another offense. After
notice to the state and a hearing on whether the person is entitled
to file the petition and issuance of the order is in the best
interest of justice, the court shall issue an order prohibiting
criminal justice agencies from disclosing to the public criminal
history record information related to the offense giving rise to
the deferred adjudication. A criminal justice agency may disclose
criminal history record information that is the subject of the
order only to other criminal justice agencies, for criminal justice
or regulatory licensing purposes, an agency or entity listed in
Subsection (i), or the person who is the subject of the order. A
person may petition the court that placed the person on deferred
adjudication for an order of nondisclosure on payment of a $28 fee
to the clerk of the court in addition to any other fee that
generally applies to the filing of a civil petition. The payment
may be made only on or after:
(1) the discharge and dismissal, if the offense for
which the person was placed on deferred adjudication was a
misdemeanor other than a misdemeanor described by Subdivision (2);
(2) the second anniversary of the discharge and
dismissal, if the offense for which the person was placed on
deferred adjudication was a misdemeanor under Chapter 20, 21, 22,
25, 42, or 46, Penal Code; or
(3) the fifth anniversary of the discharge and
dismissal, if the offense for which the person was placed on
deferred adjudication was a felony.
(e) A person is entitled to petition the court under
Subsection (d) only if during the applicable period described by
Subsection (d)(1), (2), or (3), as appropriate, the person is not
convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication community
supervision under Section 5, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, for any offense other than an offense under the
Transportation Code punishable by fine only. A person is not
entitled to petition the court under Subsection (d) if the person
has been previously convicted or placed on deferred adjudication
for:
(1) an offense requiring registration as a sex
offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(2) an offense under Section 20.04, Penal Code,
regardless of whether the offense is a reportable conviction or
adjudication for purposes of Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure;
(3) an offense under Section 19.02, 19.03, 22.04,
22.041, 25.07, or 42. 072, Penal Code; or
(4) any other offense involving family violence, as
defined by Section 71.004, Family Code.
(f) For purposes of Subsection (d), a person is considered
to have been placed on deferred adjudication community supervision
if, regardless of the statutory authorization:
(1) the person entered a plea of guilty or nolo
contendere;
(2) the judge deferred further proceedings without
entering an adjudication of guilt and placed the person under the
supervision of the court or an officer under the supervision of the
court; and
(3) at the end of the period of supervision the judge
dismissed the proceedings and discharged the person.
Text of subsec. (g) as amended by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 177, § 3
(g) When an order of nondisclosure is issued under this
subsection, the clerk of the court shall send to the Crime Records
Service of the Department of Public Safety a copy of the order by:
(1) certified mail, return receipt requested; or
(2) if requested in writing by the petitioner, secure
electronic mail or facsimile transmission.
Text of subsec. (g) as amended by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 1309, § 3
(g) When an order of nondisclosure is issued under this
section, the clerk of the court shall send a copy of the order by
certified mail, return receipt requested, to the Crime Records
Service of the Department of Public Safety. Not later than 10
business days after receipt of the order, the Department of Public
Safety shall seal any criminal history record information
maintained by the department that is the subject of the order. The
department shall also send a copy of the order by mail or electronic
to all:
(1) law enforcement agencies, jails or other detention
facilities, magistrates, courts, prosecuting attorneys,
correctional facilities, central state depositories of criminal
records, and other officials or agencies or other entities of this
state or of any political subdivision of this state;
(2) central federal depositories of criminal records
that there is reason to believe have criminal history record
information that is the subject of the order; and
(3) private entities that purchase criminal history
record information from the department.
Text of subsec. (g-1) as added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 177, § 3
(g-1) The Department of Public Safety shall send a copy of
the order by mail or secure electronic mail or facsimile
transmission to all law enforcement agencies, jails or other
detention facilities, magistrates, courts, prosecuting attorneys,
correctional facilities, central state depositories of criminal
records, and other officials or agencies or other entities of this
state or of any political subdivision of this state, and to all
central federal depositories of criminal records that there is
reason to believe have criminal history record information that is
the subject of the order.
Text of subsec. (g-1) as added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 1309, § 3
(g-1) Not later than 30 business days after receipt of an
order from the Department of Public Safety under Subsection (g), an
individual or entity described by Subsection (g)(1) shall seal any
criminal history record information maintained by the individual or
entity that is the subject of the order.
(g-2) A person whose criminal history record information
has been sealed under this section is not required in any
application for employment, information, or licensing to state that
the person has been the subject of any criminal proceeding related
to the information that is the subject of an order issued under this
section.
(h) The clerk of a court that collects a fee under
Subsection (d) shall remit the fee to the comptroller not later than
the last day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter
in which the fee is collected, and the comptroller shall deposit the
fee in the general revenue fund. The Department of Public Safety
shall submit a report to the legislature not later than December 1
of each even-numbered year that includes information on:
(1) the number of petitions for nondisclosure and
orders of nondisclosure received by the department in each of the
previous two years;
(2) the actions taken by the department with respect
to the petitions and orders received;
(3) the costs incurred by the department in taking
those actions; and
(4) the number of persons who are the subject of an
order of nondisclosure and who became the subject of criminal
charges for an offense committed after the order was issued.
(i) A criminal justice agency may disclose criminal history
record information that is the subject of an order of nondisclosure
to the following noncriminal justice agencies or entities only:
(1) the State Board for Educator Certification;
(2) a school district, charter school, private school,
regional education service center, commercial transportation
company, or education shared service arrangement;
(3) the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners;
(4) the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired;
(5) the Board of Law Examiners;
(6) the State Bar of Texas;
(7) a district court regarding a petition for name
change under Subchapter B, Chapter 45, Family Code;
(8) the Texas School for the Deaf;
(9) the Department of Family and Protective Services;
(10) the Texas Youth Commission;
(11) the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative
Services;
(12) the Department of State Health Services, a local
mental health service, a local mental retardation authority, or a
community center providing services to persons with mental illness
or retardation;
(13) the Texas Private Security Board;
(14) a municipal or volunteer fire department;
(15) the Board of Nurse Examiners;
(16) a safe house providing shelter to children in
harmful situations;
(17) a public or nonprofit hospital or hospital
district;
(18) the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission;
(19) the securities commissioner, the banking
commissioner, the savings and loan commissioner, or the credit
union commissioner;
(20) the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy;
(21) the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation;
(22) the Health and Human Services Commission; and
(23) the Department of Aging and Disability Services.
(j) If the Department of Public Safety receives information
indicating that a private entity that purchases criminal history
record information from the department has been found by a court to
have committed five or more violations of Section 552.1425 by
compiling or disseminating information with respect to which an
order of nondisclosure has been issued, the department may not
release any criminal history record information to that entity
until the first anniversary of the date of the most recent
violation.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 790, § 35, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1236, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2003;
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 177, § 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2005;
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 1309, § 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2005.