By: Madden (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 1728
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2009;
May 1, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 14, 2009, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 14, 2009, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of the inspector general of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice to issue administrative subpoenas
for certain communications records.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 493, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 493.0191 to read as follows:
Sec. 493.0191. ADMINISTRATIVE SUBPOENAS. (a) The
inspector general may issue an administrative subpoena to a
communications common carrier or an electronic communications
service provider to compel the production of the carrier's or
service provider's business records that:
(1) disclose information about:
(A) the carrier's or service provider's
customers; or
(B) users of the services offered by the carrier
or service provider; and
(2) are material to a criminal investigation of an
escape or a potential escape or a violation of Section 38.11, Penal
Code.
(b) In this section:
(1) "Communications common carrier" means a person
that:
(A) for a fee, provides directly to the public or
to certain members of the public the ability to transmit between or
among points specified by the person who uses that ability,
regardless of the technology used, information of the person's
choosing without change in the form or content of the information
transmitted; or
(B) a provider that bills customers for services
described by Paragraph (A).
(2) "Electronic communications service provider"
means a service provider that provides to users of the service the
ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications, as
those terms are defined by Article 18.20, Code of Criminal
Procedure.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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