NCJ Number
154704
Date Published
1995
Length
66 pages
Annotation
Texas has enacted legislation that covers the Bureau of Identification and Records (BIR), access to criminal history record information, the expungement of criminal records, and the criminal history record system.
Abstract
The BIR is responsible for photographs, pictures, descriptions, fingerprints, measurements, and other pertinent information on all persons convicted of a felony and on habitual criminals. The BIR also collects information on the number and nature of offenses and conducts ballistic tests of bullets and firearms and chemical analyses of bloodstains, cloth, materials, and other substances for law enforcement agencies. Legislation contains provisions on specific individuals and agencies that have access to criminal history record information, procedures for expunging criminal history records, and the responsibility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for recording criminal history data and establishing a database to centralize criminal history record information systems. Texas has also implemented the Open Records Act, various regulations governing the review of personal criminal history records, and guidelines for determining what constitutes public information.