HBA-CMT H.B. 776 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 776 By: Haggerty Corrections 8/7/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Criminal history records are an important public safety tool used both by the criminal justice system and by those monitoring employment at schools, day care centers, and nursing homes. Accurate and complete criminal history records are crucial to effective criminal justice. In addition, such records are increasingly used to screen individuals prior to public or private employment in sensitive positions or for the purchase of firearms. The 71st Legislature required the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to create the Texas Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS). House Bill 776 modifies provisions relating to the implementation and operation of CJIS and the submission of information to CJIS and the dissemination and use of that information. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the director of public safety in SECTION 3 (Sec. 411.048, Government Code) and to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in SECTION 5 (Sec. 495.008, Government Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS House Bill 776 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require that no later than the first anniversary after the date an examining entity submits its criminal history data report, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) is to report to the Legislative Budget Board (board), the governor, the state auditor, and the Criminal Justice Policy Council (council) on DPS's progress in implementing the examining entity's recommendations, including for each recommendation not implemented the reason for not implementing the recommendation (Article 60.02, Code of Criminal Procedure). The bill requires DPS to enter reports of prosecution or court disposition information from a jurisdiction for which corresponding arrest data does not exist in the computerized criminal history system (system) into a non-fingerprint supported file that is separate from the system on receipt of a report from the jurisdiction. DPS is required to grant access to records in the non-fingerprint supported file that include the subject's name or other identifier in the same manner as DPS is required to grant access to criminal history record information. The bill provides that on receipt of a report of arrest information that corresponds to a record in the non-fingerprint supported file, DPS is required to transfer the record from the non-fingerprint supported file to the computerized criminal history system (Article 60.20, Code of Criminal Procedure). The bill requires the Department of Information Resources (DIR) to monitor the development of the corrections tracking system by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to ensure implementation of the system no later than June 1, 2005. The bill requires DPS to develop a plan no later than January 1, 2003, to encourage local criminal justice agencies to report criminal history data to DPS for inclusion in the system and evaluate the necessity of imposing sanctions on local criminal justice agencies that do not report criminal history data. The bill requires DPS to monitor the submission of arrest and disposition information by local jurisdictions, annually submit a report regarding the level of reporting by local jurisdictions to the board, the governor, the state auditor, and the council and identify local jurisdictions that do not report arrest or disposition information or that partially report information (Article 60.21, Code of Criminal Procedure). The bill requires the bureau of identification and records to establish and maintain a central index in the system maintained by DPS to collect and disseminate information relating to an individual's expression of intent to inflict serious bodily injury or death on a peace officer, and alert a peace officer of an expression of an intent to inflict serious bodily injury or death on the officer. The bill requires a criminal justice agency (agency) to immediately enter into the system an electronic report of an individual who expresses an intent to inflict serious bodily injury or death on a peace officer. The bill sets forth criteria that the information must meet before the agency enters the collected information into the system. The bill sets forth procedures for the dissemination by DPS of the information to the agencies and sets forth the rights of the individual who is the subject of the information collected. The bill establishes that a peace officer or agency is not liable for an act or omission relating to the collection, use, or dissemination of information collected in accordance with the rules adopted by the public safety director (director). The bill authorizes the director to adopt rules to implement and enforce the aforementioned provisions, and establishes that any rule adopted by the director must comply with the provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations as it applies to criminal intelligence systems (Sec. 411.048, Government Code). The bill amends the Government Code to require DPS to grant access to criminal history record information to a county or district clerk's office and the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System. The bill sets forth provisions relating to the dissemination of criminal history record information by DPS to a county or district clerk and the use of that information by a county or district clerk. The bill authorizes the office of court administration to disclose criminal history record information obtained from DPS in a statistic compiled by the office or a report prepared by the office, but only in a manner that does not identify the person who is the subject of the information (Sec. 411.083, Government Code). The bill requires TDCJ to develop a comprehensive methodology for enhanced auditing and monitoring of all facilities operated under contract with TDCJ that house inmates of TDCJ and releasees under the supervision of TDCJ. The bill sets forth requirements that are to be included in each new and renewed contract with TDCJ and a facility that houses inmates of TDCJ. The bill requires TDCJ to complete at least one enhanced audit for each facility contracted to hold inmates without regard to whether the facility is operated by a public or private vendor. The audit must include an enhanced contract compliance review of any vendors hired by a community supervision and corrections department to operate a facility. The bill requires TDCJ, in conjunction with an advisory committee composed of state officials and private officials from within the industry, to adopt rules to implement the requirements of the bill. The bill requires TDCJ to develop an appeals process, under which a vendor may appeal any imposed sanction under the contract, that includes the right to a formal hearing and a right to a final determination by the Texas Board of Criminal Justice. The bill requires TDCJ to submit a report to the governor and the board no later than January 1, 2003, describing its efforts to implement the requirements of the bill (Sec. 495.008, Government Code). The bill exempts information held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of a crime from provisions regarding public information if it is information relating to a threat against a peace officer collected or disseminated under the provisions of the bill (Sec. 552.108, Government Code). The bill requires DPS to transfer no later than October 1, 2001, all records of prosecution or court disposition information for which corresponding arrest data does not exist in the system to a non-fingerprint supported file. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.