| 1 | 1 | | By: Ellis S.B. No. 2372 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to property and evidence technicians. |
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| 7 | 7 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 8 | 8 | | SECTION 1. Title 10, Occupations Code, is amended by adding |
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| 9 | 9 | | Chapter 1705 to read as follows: |
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| 10 | 10 | | CHAPTER 1705. PROPERTY AND EVIDENCE |
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| 11 | 11 | | SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 1705.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as |
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| 13 | 13 | | the Texas Act for Property and Evidence (TAPE). |
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| 14 | 14 | | Sec. 1705.002. EVIDENCE TECHNICIANS. (a) In this section: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (1) "Evidence technician" means a person employed by |
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| 16 | 16 | | or serving a law enforcement agency who receives, preserves, |
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| 17 | 17 | | stores, disposes of, and accounts for any and all property and/or |
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| 18 | 18 | | evidence coming into the possession of the law enforcement agency. |
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| 19 | 19 | | People assigned to Property/Evidence Rooms may also be titled |
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| 20 | 20 | | "Property Control Officer", "Property Attendant", "Property |
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| 21 | 21 | | Specialist", or any other classification as long as the position is |
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| 22 | 22 | | assigned to the Property/Evidence Room. |
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| 23 | 23 | | (2) "Property" means any item submitted to the |
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| 24 | 24 | | Property/Evidence Room that does not have evidentiary value or is |
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| 25 | 25 | | not related to or alleged to be related to any criminal act. The |
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| 26 | 26 | | terms "abandoned", "unclaimed" and "found" may also be used to |
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| 27 | 27 | | further describe property submitted under this definition. |
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| 28 | 28 | | (3) "Evidence" means any item that tends to prove or |
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| 29 | 29 | | disprove that a criminal act occurred or can prove or disprove guilt |
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| 30 | 30 | | or innocence. |
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| 31 | 31 | | Sec. 1705.003. EVIDENCE TECHNICIANS CERTIFICATION. |
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| 32 | 32 | | (a) This state or a political subdivision of this state may not |
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| 33 | 33 | | appoint or employ a person to act as an evidence technician and/or |
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| 34 | 34 | | court clerk, unless the person has had at least eight hours of |
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| 35 | 35 | | evidence technician training as determined by the commission. |
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| 36 | 36 | | (b) The commission shall accredit evidence technician |
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| 37 | 37 | | training programs that fulfill the minimum requirements for an |
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| 38 | 38 | | evidence technician and/or court clerk. The commission shall adopt |
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| 39 | 39 | | rules providing for the accreditation of an evidence technician |
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| 40 | 40 | | training program developed and taught by the Texas Association of |
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| 41 | 41 | | Property and Evidence Inventory Technicians, the Department of |
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| 42 | 42 | | Public Safety, an institution of higher education, including a |
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| 43 | 43 | | junior college, community college, or technical school, or any |
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| 44 | 44 | | other entity approved by the commission. |
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| 45 | 45 | | (c) A person who completes an accredited training program |
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| 46 | 46 | | under this section may, by letter to the commission, request a |
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| 47 | 47 | | written acknowledgment from the commission that the person has met |
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| 48 | 48 | | the minimum requirements for an evidence technician as determined |
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| 49 | 49 | | by the commission. The request must be accompanied, in accordance |
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| 50 | 50 | | with commission rules, by evidence of satisfactory completion of an |
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| 51 | 51 | | accredited evidence technician training program. On a |
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| 52 | 52 | | determination by the commission that the person meets the minimum |
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| 53 | 53 | | requirements for an evidence technician, the commission shall issue |
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| 54 | 54 | | the written acknowledgment to the person. |
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| 55 | 55 | | (d) A person performing the duties of an evidence technician |
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| 56 | 56 | | and serving under permanent appointment on and before September 1, |
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| 57 | 57 | | 2009, is not required to meet the requirements of this section as a |
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| 58 | 58 | | condition of continued employment. |
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| 59 | 59 | | (e) Notwithstanding this section, a person may be appointed |
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| 60 | 60 | | or serve as an evidence technician on a temporary or probationary |
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| 61 | 61 | | basis or may perform the duties of an evidence technician in an |
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| 62 | 62 | | emergency. |
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| 63 | 63 | | (f) A person appointed on a temporary or probationary basis |
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| 64 | 64 | | after September 1, 2009, who does not satisfactorily complete an |
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| 65 | 65 | | accredited evidence technician training program before the first |
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| 66 | 66 | | anniversary of the date the person is originally appointed shall be |
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| 67 | 67 | | removed from the position. The person's temporary or probationary |
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| 68 | 68 | | appointment may not be extended for more than one year except that |
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| 69 | 69 | | not earlier than the first anniversary of the date the person is |
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| 70 | 70 | | removed under this subsection, the employing agency may petition |
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| 71 | 71 | | the commission for reinstatement of the person to temporary or |
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| 72 | 72 | | probationary employment. |
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