S.B. No. 1242
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the confidentiality of certain personal information of
  an applicant for or a person protected by a protective order.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 82, Family Code, is
  amended by adding Section 82.011 to read as follows:
         Sec. 82.011.  CONFIDENTIALITY OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. On
  request by an applicant, the court may protect the applicant's
  mailing address by rendering an order:
               (1)  requiring the applicant to:
                     (A)  disclose the applicant's mailing address to
  the court;
                     (B)  designate a person to receive on behalf of
  the applicant any notice or documents filed with the court related
  to the application; and
                     (C)  disclose the designated person's mailing
  address to the court;
               (2)  requiring the court clerk to:
                     (A)  strike the applicant's mailing address from
  the public records of the court, if applicable; and
                     (B)  maintain a confidential record of the
  applicant's mailing address for use only by the court; and
               (3)  prohibiting the release of the information to the
  respondent.
         SECTION 2.  Section 82.041(a), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  A notice of an application for a protective order must:
               (1)  be styled "The State of Texas";
               (2)  be signed by the clerk of the court under the
  court's seal;
               (3)  contain the name and location of the court;
               (4)  show the date the application was filed;
               (5)  show the date notice of the application for a
  protective order was issued;
               (6)  show the date, time, and place of the hearing;
               (7)  show the file number;
               (8)  show the name of each applicant and each person
  alleged to have committed family violence;
               (9)  be directed to each person alleged to have
  committed family violence;
               (10)  show:
                     (A)  the name and address of the attorney for the
  applicant; or
                     (B)  [the mailing address of the applicant,] if
  the applicant is not represented by an attorney:
                           (i)  the mailing address of the applicant;
  or
                           (ii)  if applicable, the name and mailing
  address of the person designated under Section 82.011; and
               (11)  contain the address of the clerk of the court.
         SECTION 3.  Section 85.007(b), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  On granting a request for confidentiality under this
  section, the court shall order the clerk to:
               (1)  strike the information described by Subsection (a)
  from the public records of the court; and
               (2)  maintain a confidential record of the information
  for use only by:
                     (A)  the court; or
                     (B)  a law enforcement agency for purposes of
  entering the information required by Section 411.042(b)(6),
  Government Code, into the statewide law enforcement information
  system maintained by the Department of Public Safety.
         SECTION 4.  Section 411.042(b), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (b)  The bureau of identification and records shall:
               (1)  procure and file for record photographs, pictures,
  descriptions, fingerprints, measurements, and other pertinent
  information of all persons arrested for or charged with a criminal
  offense or convicted of a criminal offense, regardless of whether
  the conviction is probated;
               (2)  collect information concerning the number and
  nature of offenses reported or known to have been committed in the
  state and the legal steps taken in connection with the offenses, and
  other information useful in the study of crime and the
  administration of justice, including information that enables the
  bureau to create a statistical breakdown of:
                     (A)  offenses in which family violence was
  involved;
                     (B)  offenses under Sections 22.011 and 22.021,
  Penal Code; and
                     (C)  offenses under Sections 20A.02 and 43.05,
  Penal Code;
               (3)  make ballistic tests of bullets and firearms and
  chemical analyses of bloodstains, cloth, materials, and other
  substances for law enforcement officers of the state;
               (4)  cooperate with identification and crime records
  bureaus in other states and the United States Department of
  Justice;
               (5)  maintain a list of all previous background checks
  for applicants for any position regulated under Chapter 1702,
  Occupations Code, who have undergone a criminal history background
  check under Section 411.119, if the check indicates a Class B
  misdemeanor or equivalent offense or a greater offense;
               (6)  collect information concerning the number and
  nature of protective orders and magistrate's orders of emergency
  protection and all other pertinent information about all persons
  subject to active orders, including pertinent information about
  persons subject to conditions of bond imposed for the protection of
  the victim in any family violence, sexual assault or abuse,
  stalking, or trafficking case. Information in the law enforcement
  information system relating to an active order shall include:
                     (A)  the name, sex, race, date of birth, personal
  descriptors, address, and county of residence of the person to whom
  the order is directed;
                     (B)  any known identifying number of the person to
  whom the order is directed, including the person's social security
  number or driver's license number;
                     (C)  the name and county of residence of the
  person protected by the order;
                     (D)  the residence address and place of employment
  or business of the person protected by the order, unless that
  information is excluded from the order under [Section 85.007,
  Family Code, or] Article 17.292(e), Code of Criminal Procedure;
                     (E)  the child-care facility or school where a
  child protected by the order normally resides or which the child
  normally attends, unless that information is excluded from the
  order under [Section 85.007, Family Code, or] Article 17.292(e),
  Code of Criminal Procedure;
                     (F)  the relationship or former relationship
  between the person who is protected by the order and the person to
  whom the order is directed;
                     (G)  the conditions of bond imposed on the person
  to whom the order is directed, if any, for the protection of a
  victim in any family violence, sexual assault or abuse, stalking,
  or trafficking case;
                     (H)  any minimum distance the person subject to
  the order is required to maintain from the protected places or
  persons; and
                     (I)  the date the order expires;
               (7)  grant access to criminal history record
  information in the manner authorized under Subchapter F;
               (8)  collect and disseminate information regarding
  offenders with mental impairments in compliance with Chapter 614,
  Health and Safety Code; and
               (9)  record data and maintain a state database for a
  computerized criminal history record system and computerized
  juvenile justice information system that serves:
                     (A)  as the record creation point for criminal
  history record information and juvenile justice information
  maintained by the state; and
                     (B)  as the control terminal for the entry of
  records, in accordance with federal law and regulations, federal
  executive orders, and federal policy, into the federal database
  maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
         SECTION 5.  Section 82.011, Family Code, as added by this
  Act, applies only to an application for a protective order that is
  filed on or after the effective date of this Act. An application
  for a protective order filed before the effective date of this Act
  is governed by the law in effect on the date the application is
  filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 6.  Section 85.007, Family Code, and Section
  411.042, Government Code, as amended by this Act, apply to a
  protective order issued on or after the effective date of this Act,
  regardless of whether the conduct on which the order is based
  occurred before, on, or after that date.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1242 passed the Senate on
  April 19, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1242 passed the House on
  May 19, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, two
  present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor