*1 March 15, 1977

The Honorable Selden N. Snedeker Opinion No. H-95.6 Criminal District Attorney Re: Fingerprinting of

Cameron County Brownsville, Texas 78520 juveniles.

Dear Mr. Sn~edeker:

You have, requested ou,r opinion regarding whether a law enforcement agency may fingerprint a child for identifica- tion purposes. Section 51.15~of the Family,Code~ provides, in pertinent part: No child may be fingerprinted (a)

without the consent of the juvenile court except as provided in Subsection (f) of this section. However, if a child 15 years of age or older is referred to the juvenile court for a felony, his finger- prints may be taken and filed by a law- enforcement officer investigating the.case.

Subsection (f) permits a law enforcement officer to take a child's fingerprints "[i]f latent fingerprints are found during the inves.tigation of an offense, and a law-enforcement officer has reasonable cause to.believe that they~ are those of a particular child. . . '."

Prior to its 1975 amendment, subsection (a) provided: No child may be fingerprinted in the -- investigation of a crime except.as provided -- in Subsection (f) of this section . . . .

(Emphasis added). In our opinion, the deletion of the phrase "in the investigation of a crime" from the 1975 amendment to section 51.15(a) conclusively indicates that a law enforcement agency may fingerprint a child only. in the specified circumstanc,es. P. 3990

The Honorable Selden N. Snedeker - page 2 (H-956) A child may be fingerprinted in only three instances: ~if the juvenile court grants its approval: if. subsection (f) is applicable; or if the child is "15 years of age or older [and] is referred to the juvenile court for a felony." Thus, it is our opinion that, unless one of the statutory exceptions is applicable, section 51.15 of the Family Code prohibits a law enforcement agency from fingerprinting's child.

SUMMARY Unless one of the stated exceptions is applicable, section 51.15 of the Family Code prohibi~ts a law enforcement agency from fingerprinting a child., Very truly yours, Attorney General of Texas APPROVED:

KENDALL, First Assistant

C. ROBERT HEATH, Chairman

Opinion Committee

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P. 3991