Highlights 77th Texas Legislature - Senate

________________ C RIMINAL
USTICE/General/General
RIMINAL JUSTICE
77 th Texas Legislature
Raising Educational Requirements to Train as a Peace Officer - H.B. 1121
by Representative Bob Turner
Senate Sponsor: Senator West
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (commission) is required to
set minimum standards for a person to enroll in a training program for peace officers and county jailers.
Prohibits a person from enrolling in a peace officer training program unless the person has a high school
diploma, has a GED certificate and 12 hours of college or university credit with a specified grade point
average, or has served in the armed forces for at least two years and left with an honorable discharge.
Prohibits the commission from requiring a person seeking a license to be a peace officer training instructor
to have an associate’s degree.
Drug Court Program - H.B. 1287
by Representative Thompson, et al.
Senate Sponsor: Senator Whitmire
Authorizes the commissioners court of a county to establish a drug court program to provide treatment and
other alternatives to incarceration for persons arrested for, charged with, or convicted of alcohol or drug
offenses.
Requires counties with a population of more than 550,000 to establish a drug court program and have at
least 100 participants during the first four months of operation of the drug court program.
Authorizes the establishment of a legislative oversight committee to oversee and audit the drug court
program.
Authorizes a drug court program to collect participant fees not to exceed $1,000.
Expunction of Quashed Records - H.B. 1323
by Representative Shields
Senate Sponsor: Senator Staples
Under current Texas law, when a person is arrested for a crime records are created. If the indictment or
information used to charge the person for the alleged crime is quashed because of non-prosecution or
other showing of lack of probable cause, no provisions exist for the application of expunction of the records
against a person in such a situation.
Allows the expunction of criminal records after an indictment or information is quashed.
Senate Research Center 53