Texas Family Code - Section 58.003. Sealing Of Records
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§ 58.003. SEALING OF RECORDS. (a) Except as provided by
Subsections (b) and (c), on the application of a person who has been
found to have engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a
need for supervision, or a person taken into custody to determine
whether the person engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct
indicating a need for supervision, on the juvenile court's own
motion the court shall order the sealing of the records in the case
if the court finds that:
(1) two years have elapsed since final discharge of
the person or since the last official action in the person's case if
there was no adjudication; and
(2) since the time specified in Subdivision (1), the
person has not been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving
moral turpitude or found to have engaged in delinquent conduct or
conduct indicating a need for supervision and no proceeding is
pending seeking conviction or adjudication.
(b) A court may not order the sealing of the records of a
person who has received a determinate sentence for engaging in
delinquent conduct that violated a penal law listed in Section
53.045 or engaging in habitual felony conduct as described by
Section 51.031.
(c) Subject to Subsection (b), a court may order the sealing
of records concerning a person adjudicated as having engaged in
delinquent conduct that violated a penal law of the grade of felony
only if:
(1) the person is 21 years of age or older;
(2) the person was not transferred by a juvenile court
under Section 54.02 to a criminal court for prosecution;
(3) the records have not been used as evidence in the
punishment phase of a criminal proceeding under Section 3(a),
Article 37.07, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
(4) the person has not been convicted of a penal law of
the grade of felony after becoming age 17.
(d) The court may grant the relief authorized in Subsection
(a) at any time after final discharge of the person or after the
last official action in the case if there was no adjudication. If
the child is referred to the juvenile court for conduct
constituting any offense and at the adjudication hearing the child
is found to be not guilty of each offense alleged, the court shall
immediately order the sealing of all files and records relating to
the case.
(e) Reasonable notice of the hearing shall be given to:
(1) the person who made the application or who is the
subject of the records named in the motion;
(2) the prosecuting attorney for the juvenile court;
(3) the authority granting the discharge if the final
discharge was from an institution or from parole;
(4) the public or private agency or institution having
custody of records named in the application or motion; and
(5) the law enforcement agency having custody of files
or records named in the application or motion.
(f) A copy of the sealing order shall be sent to each agency
or official named in the order.
(g) On entry of the order:
(1) all law enforcement, prosecuting attorney, clerk
of court, and juvenile court records ordered sealed shall be sent
before the 61st day after the date the order is received to the
court issuing the order;
(2) all records of a public or private agency or
institution ordered sealed shall be sent before the 61st day after
the date the order is received to the court issuing the order;
(3) all index references to the records ordered sealed
shall be deleted before the 61st day after the date the order is
received, and verification of the deletion shall be sent before the
61st day after the date of the deletion to the court issuing the
order;
(4) the juvenile court, clerk of court, prosecuting
attorney, public or private agency or institution, and law
enforcement officers and agencies shall properly reply that no
record exists with respect to the person on inquiry in any matter;
and
(5) the adjudication shall be vacated and the
proceeding dismissed and treated for all purposes other than a
subsequent capital prosecution, including the purpose of showing a
prior finding of delinquent conduct, as if it had never occurred.
(g-1) Any records collected or maintained by the Texas
Juvenile Probation Commission, including statistical data
submitted under Section 141.044, Human Resources Code, are not
subject to a sealing order issued under this section.
(h) Inspection of the sealed records may be permitted by an
order of the juvenile court on the petition of the person who is the
subject of the records and only by those persons named in the order.
(i) On the final discharge of a child or on the last official
action in the case if there is no adjudication, the child shall be
given a written explanation of the child's rights under this
section and a copy of the provisions of this section.
(j) A person whose records have been sealed under this
section is not required in any proceeding or in any application for
employment, information, or licensing to state that the person has
been the subject of a proceeding under this title and any statement
that the person has never been found to be a delinquent child shall
never be held against the person in any criminal or civil
proceeding.
(k) A prosecuting attorney may, on application to the
juvenile court, reopen at any time the files and records of a person
adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct that violated a
penal law of the grade of felony sealed by the court under this
section for the purposes of Sections 12.42(a)-(c) and (e), Penal
Code.
(l) On the motion of a person in whose name records are kept
or on the court's own motion, the court may order the destruction of
records that have been sealed under this section if:
(1) the records relate to conduct that did not violate
a penal law of the grade of felony or a misdemeanor punishable by
confinement in jail;
(2) five years have elapsed since the person's 16th
birthday; and
(3) the person has not been convicted of a felony.
(m) On request of the Department of Public Safety, a
juvenile court shall reopen and allow the department to inspect the
files and records of the juvenile court relating to an applicant for
a license to carry a concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter
411, Government Code.
(n) A record created or maintained under Chapter 62, Code of
Criminal Procedure, may not be sealed under this section if the
person who is the subject of the record has a continuing obligation
to register under that chapter.
(o) An agency or official named in the order that cannot
seal the records because the information required in the order
under Subsection (p) is incorrect or insufficient shall notify the
court issuing the order before the 61st day after the date the
agency or official receives the order. The court shall notify the
person who made the application or who is the subject of the records
named in the motion, or the attorney for that person, before the
61st day after the date the court receives the notice that the
agency or official cannot seal the records because there is
incorrect or insufficient information in the order.
(p) A person who is eligible to seal records may file an
application for the sealing of records in a juvenile court of the
county in which the proceedings occurred. The application and
sealing order entered on the application must include the following
information or an explanation for why one or more of the following
is not included:
(1) the applicant's:
(A) full name;
(B) sex;
(C) race or ethnicity;
(D) date of birth;
(E) driver's license or identification card
number; and
(F) social security number;
(2) the offense charged against the applicant or for
which the applicant was referred to the juvenile justice system;
(3) the date on which and the county where the offense
was alleged to have been committed; and
(4) if a petition was filed in the juvenile court, the
cause number assigned to the petition and the court and county in
which the petition was filed.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 262, § 53, eff. Jan. 1, 1996.
Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, § 10.05(a), eff. Sept.
1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1086, § 18, eff. Sept. 1,
1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, § 19.01(20), eff. Sept. 1,
1999; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 147, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999;
Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 283, § 26, eff. Sept. 1, 2003; Acts
2005, 79th Leg., ch. 949, § 16, eff. Sept. 1, 2005.
Section: 57.006 57.007 57.008 58.001 58.002 58.0021 58.0022 58.003 58.005 58.0051 58.006 58.007 58.0071 58.0072 58.101
Last modified: August 11, 2007
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