HBA-CMT, AMW H.B. 776 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 776 By: Haggerty Corrections 4/1/2001 Introduced 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, operation, and maintenance of the CJIS. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 776 amends the Government Code and Code of Criminal Procedure to modify provisions relating to the implementation, operation, and maintenance of the criminal justice information system. The bill amends the Government Code to require the Criminal Justice Policy Council (policy council) to monitor the development of the corrections tracking system by the Department of Information Resources and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to ensure implementation of the system by June 1, 2005. The bill requires the policy council to develop a plan by January 1, 2003 to encourage local criminal justice agencies to report criminal history data to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) for inclusion in the computerized criminal history system and to evaluate the necessity of imposing sanctions on local criminal justice agencies that do not report criminal history data. The bill requires the policy council to develop a plan in conjunction with the Judicial Committee on Information Technology not later than January 1, 2003 to ensure that any Internet "portal" system selected by the committee does not interfere with the ability of the courts to submit accurate information in a timely manner. The bill requires the policy council, in conjunction with DPS and not later than January 1, 2003, to analyze less expensive alternatives to the use of Live Scan equipment by criminal justice agencies for submitting fingerprints electronically to DPS and to develop audit procedures for reviewing criminal history data submitted by local criminal justice agencies and guidelines for submitting criminal history requests to DPS by public entities. The provisions in this bill regarding the monitoring of the tracking and development and analysis of information submission procedures expire December 31, 2005. The bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to increase the frequency of the required examinations of the criminal justice information system's records and operations by the policy council from at least once during each five year period rather than each two year period. The bill requires the policy council to coordinate the first examination by October 1, 2002 and the entity conducting the examination to submit its first report to the legislature and the policy council by January 1, 2003. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.