Sec. 411.176.  REVIEW OF APPLICATION MATERIALS.  (a)  On receipt of application materials by the department at its Austin headquarters, the department shall conduct the appropriate criminal history record check of the applicant through its computerized criminal history system.  Not later than the 30th day after the date the department receives the application materials, the department shall forward the materials to the director's designee in the geographical area of the applicant's residence so that the designee may conduct the investigation described by Subsection (b).  For purposes of this section, the director's designee may be a noncommissioned employee of the department.
(b)  The director's designee as needed shall conduct an additional criminal history record check of the applicant and an investigation of the applicant's local official records to verify the accuracy of the application materials.  The director's designee may access any records necessary for purposes of this subsection.  The scope of the record check and the investigation are at the sole discretion of the department, except that the director's designee shall complete the record check and investigation not later than the 60th day after the date the department receives the application materials.  The department shall send a fingerprint card to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history check of the applicant.  On completion of the investigation, the director's designee shall return all materials and the result of the investigation to the appropriate division of the department at its Austin headquarters.
(c)  The director's designee may submit to the appropriate division of the department, at the department's Austin headquarters, along with the application materials a written recommendation for disapproval of the application, accompanied by an affidavit stating personal knowledge or naming persons with personal knowledge of a ground for denial under Section 411.172.  The director's designee may also submit the application and the recommendation that the license be issued.
(d)  On receipt at the department's Austin headquarters of the application materials and the result of the investigation by the director's designee, the department shall conduct any further record check or investigation the department determines is necessary if a question exists with respect to the accuracy of the application materials or the eligibility of the applicant, except that the department shall complete the record check and investigation not later than the 180th day after the date the department receives the application materials from the applicant.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 10.01(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1997.  Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 9.07(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
Amended by: 
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1146 (H.B. 2730), Sec. 11.05, eff. September 1, 2009.