HB 3261 Texas House · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to the eligibility of criminal defendants for an order of nondisclosure of criminal history record information for certain offenses committed when younger than 25 years of age.

HB 3261 shortens the waiting periods for certain individuals to petition for sealing their criminal records. It allows people under 25 years old who committed specific offenses (like misdemeanors or certain felonies) to apply for an "order of nondisclosure" immediately after completing probation, rather than waiting years. For example, misdemeanor offenders can now petition right after discharge (previously requiring a one-year wait), and state jail felony offenders can apply after one year instead of two. This change directly affects eligible criminal defendants seeking to hide certain past offenses from public view. The bill amends Texas Government Code Sections 411.0725 and 411.0727.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
May 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Mar 20, 2025 Last action May 7, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Engrossed · 4 edits · May 7, 2025
MODERATE
This bill expands eligibility for criminal history record nondisclosure orders by creating a new pathway for individuals convicted of certain offenses when they were younger than 25 years old, regardless of whether they completed a specialty court program. It also modifies existing eligibility timelines and offense categories for other nondisclosure provisions.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded from primarily covering specialty court program participants to including younger offenders who meet specific age and conviction criteria, even without specialty court participation.
ELIGIBILITY

Added new Section 411.0739 establishing eligibility for nondisclosure for individuals convicted of offenses other than those listed in Article 42A.054(a) or sexually violent offenses, provided they were younger than 25 at the time of the offense and have not previously received nondisclosure for that offense.

Removed the requirement that individuals must have completed a specialty court program to be eligible for nondisclosure orders under certain sections.

TIMELINE

Changed the waiting period for misdemeanor nondisclosure petitions from the second anniversary to the second anniversary of sentence completion, and for felony nondisclosure petitions from the third anniversary to the fifth anniversary of sentence completion.

Added effective date of September 1, 2025 for the Act's provisions.

Floor votes · House May 7, 2025

How they voted

8751
Passed · 4 other
Total votes 142
May 7, 2025
D Democratic58
54 Yea 1 Nay 3
93% Yea
R Republican84
33 Yea 50 Nay 1
59% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
24
Key actions
7
Committee
6
May 7, 2025
Introduced
Received from the House
upper
May 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
May 6, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed to engrossment
lower
Apr 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report sent to Calendars
lower
Apr 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report distributed
lower
Apr 16, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably as substituted
lower
Apr 2, 2025
Lower · Passed
Left pending in committee
lower
Apr 2, 2025
Lower · Passed
Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
lower
Mar 20, 2025
Committee
Referred to Corrections
lower
Mar 20, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
4 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors