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Read. Follow. Verify.Texas Bill Requires Juvenile Probation Departments to Provide Oral Explanations and Attorney Directories for Sealing Juvenile Records
Last action · April 14, 2025: Left pending in subcommitteeSponsors: Rhetta Bowers and 5 others
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What This Bill Proposed
Relating to information regarding the procedures and available resources for the sealing of juvenile records.
Families navigating the juvenile justice system receive expanded guidance and direct access to legal resources, altering how record-sealing information is communicated upon referral and discharge.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Children referred to juvenile probation departments
Youth receive mandatory oral and written guidance regarding record sealing, access to low-cost attorney resources, and opportunities to ask questions about the process.
State Bar of Texas
The organization is tasked with creating, maintaining, and publishing an online public directory of attorneys offering low-cost or pro bono representation for sealing juvenile records across administrative judicial regions.
Texas Juvenile Justice Department
Officials must provide written and oral explanations upon a child's final discharge or last official action, and the department must publish an informational brochure and resource list on its website.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What information must juvenile probation officers provide when a child is referred?
Who is responsible for creating the online directory of attorneys for sealing juvenile records?
What must the Texas Juvenile Justice Department publish on its website?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
8 actions- Apr 14, 2025HouseLeft pending in subcommittee
- Apr 14, 2025HouseTestimony taken/registration(s) recorded in subcommittee
- Apr 14, 2025HouseConsidered by s/c in public hearing
- Apr 14, 2025HouseScheduled for public hearing in s/c on . . .
- Apr 10, 2025HousePosting rule suspended
- Mar 14, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to s/c on Juvenile Justice by Speaker
Show 2 earlier actions
- Mar 14, 2025HouseIntroducedRead first time
- Jan 13, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory Oral Guidance in Juvenile Justice
The legislation shifts juvenile probation procedures from relying solely on written paperwork to requiring interactive oral explanations and question sessions for families.
Connected Entities
Sources
capitol.texas.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 60)
- Controversy10Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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