Texas Code of Criminal Procedure - Article 60.02. Information Systems
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Art. 60.02. INFORMATION SYSTEMS. (a) The Texas Department
of Criminal Justice is responsible for recording data and
establishing and maintaining a data base for a corrections tracking
system.
(b) The Department of Public Safety is responsible for
recording data and maintaining a data base for a computerized
criminal history system that serves as the record creation point
for criminal history information maintained by the state.
(c) The criminal justice information system shall be
established and maintained to supply the state with a system:
(1) that provides law enforcement officers with an accurate
criminal history record depository;
(2) that provides criminal justice agencies with an
accurate criminal history record depository for operational
decision making;
(3) from which accurate criminal justice system modeling
can be conducted;
(4) that improves the quality of data used to conduct impact
analyses of proposed legislative changes in the criminal justice
system; and
(5) that improves the ability of interested parties to
analyze the functioning of the criminal justice system.
(d) The data bases must contain the information required by
this chapter.
(e) The Department of Public Safety shall designate the
offense codes and has the sole responsibility for designating the
state identification number for each person whose name appears in
the criminal justice information system.
(f) The Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice shall implement a system to link the
computerized criminal history system and the corrections tracking
system. Data received by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
that is required by the Department of Public Safety for the
preparation of a criminal history record shall be made available to
the computerized criminal history system not later than the seventh
day after the date on which the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
receives the request for the data from the Department of Public
Safety.
(g) The Department of Public Safety is responsible for the
operation of the computerized criminal history system and shall
develop the necessary interfaces in the system to accommodate
inquiries from a statewide automated fingerprint identification
system, if such a system is implemented by the department.
(h) Whenever possible, the reporting of information
relating to dispositions and subsequent offender processing data
shall be conducted electronically.
(i) The Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice, with advice from the council and the
Department of Information Resources, shall develop biennial plans
to improve the reporting and accuracy of the criminal justice
information system and to develop and maintain monitoring systems
capable of identifying missing information.
(j) At least once during each five-year period the council
shall coordinate an examination of the records and operations of
the criminal justice information system to ensure the accuracy and
completeness of information in the system and to ensure the
promptness of information reporting. The state auditor, or other
appropriate entity selected by the council, shall conduct the
examination with the cooperation of the council, the Department of
Public Safety, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The
Department of Public Safety, the council, and the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice may examine the records of the agencies
required to report information to the Department of Public Safety
or the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The examining entity
shall submit to the legislature and the council a report that
summarizes the findings of each examination and contains
recommendations for improving the system. Not later than the first
anniversary after the date the examining entity submits its report,
the Department of Public Safety shall report to the Legislative
Budget Board, the governor, the state auditor, and the council on
the department's progress in implementing the examining entity's
recommendations, including for each recommendation not implemented
the reason for not implementing the recommendation. The Department
of Public Safety shall submit a similar report each year following
the submission of the first report until each of the examining
entity's recommendations is implemented.
(k) The council, the Department of Public Safety, the
criminal justice division of the governor's office, and the
Department of Information Resources cooperatively shall develop
and adopt a grant program, to be implemented by the criminal justice
division at a time and in a manner determined by the division, to
aid local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and court
personnel in obtaining equipment and training necessary to operate
a telecommunications network capable of:
(1) making inquiries to and receiving responses from the
statewide automated fingerprint identification system and from the
computerized criminal history system; and
(2) transmitting information to those systems.
(m) Notwithstanding Subsection (j), work performed under
this section by the state auditor is subject to approval by the
legislative audit committee for inclusion in the audit plan under
Section 321.013(c), Government Code.
Added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 785, Sec. 6.01, eff. Sept. 1,
1989. Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 25, Sec. 28,
eff. June 18, 1990. Subsec. (k) amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg.,
ch. 362, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 26, 1991; Subsec. (j) amended by Acts
2001, 77th Leg., ch. 474, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Subsec. (m)
added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 785, Sec. 72, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Article: 59.09 59.10 59.11 59.12 59.13 59.14 60.01 60.02 60.03 60.04 60.05 60.051 60.052 60.06 60.061
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Last modified: August 10, 2007
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