By: Gallego H.B. No. 3581
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the right of a foreign national to contact a foreign
consular official.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 15.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
(h)(1) If a magistrate knows or suspects that a person
brought before the magistrate after an arrest is a foreign
national, other than a national of Canada or the United Mexican
States, the magistrate shall inform the person that after an arrest
a foreign national has a right to communicate with an official from
the consulate of the person's country. If the person chooses to
exercise the right to communicate with the consular official, the
magistrate shall notify an official of the penal institution in
which the person is confined that the person wants a foreign
consular official to be notified.
(2) If a magistrate knows or suspects that a person
brought before the magistrate after an arrest is a national of
Canada or the United Mexican States, the magistrate shall:
(A) inform the person that, after an arrest, a
foreign national has a right to communicate with an official from
the consulate of the person's country; and
(B) notify the consulate of Canada or the United
Mexican States, as applicable, of the person's arrest and
detention.
(3) The official of the penal institution in which the
person is confined shall allow the person to communicate with,
correspond with, and be visited by a consular official of the
person's country.
(4) In providing a foreign national with rights
described by this subsection, the magistrate and official of the
penal institution shall comply with policies and procedures adopted
by the United States Department of State that apply to the
notification of foreign consular officials on the arrest of foreign
nationals.
SECTION 2. Section 1701.253, Occupations Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (k) to read as follows:
(k) As part of the minimum curriculum requirements, the
commission shall establish a statewide comprehensive education and
training program on the requirements for handling the arrest and
detention of a foreign national as provided by Article 15.17(h),
Code of Criminal Procedure. An officer shall complete a program
established under this subsection not later than the second
anniversary of the date the officer is licensed under this chapter
or the date the officer applies for an intermediate proficiency
certificate, whichever date is earlier.
SECTION 3. Section 1701.402, Occupations Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
(h) As a requirement for an intermediate proficiency
certificate, an officer must complete an education and training
program on the requirements for handling the arrest of a foreign
national that are established by the commission under Section
1701.253(k).
SECTION 4. (a) Not later than January 1, 2010, the
Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education shall
establish the curriculum for a comprehensive education and training
program for peace officers as required by Section 1701.253(k) and
Section 1701.402(h), Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
(b) A person who, on September 1, 2009, holds an
intermediate proficiency certificate issued under Section
1701.402, Occupations Code, or has held a peace officer license
issued by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
Education for more than two years shall complete an educational
training program on the requirements for handling the arrest of a
foreign national that are established under Section 1701.253(k),
Occupations Code, as added by this Act, not later than September 1,
2011.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.