83R11309 SCL-F
By: Naishtat H.B. No. 3725
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the service of a subpoena for the attendance of a law
enforcement agency employee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 23, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter D to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER D. SUBPOENAS
Sec. 23.251. SERVICE OF SUBPOENA FOR ATTENDANCE OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT EMPLOYEES. (a) In this section, "law enforcement
agency" has the meaning assigned by Article 59.01(5), Code of
Criminal Procedure.
(b) Each law enforcement agency shall designate an
individual within the agency to receive subpoenas for the
attendance of a law enforcement agency employee. Service of a
subpoena for the attendance of an agency employee on the designated
individual is considered service on the employee named in the
subpoena.
(c) The designated individual described by Subsection (b)
shall receive subpoenas for the attendance of a law enforcement
employee at the law enforcement agency's main office during the law
enforcement agency's normal business hours. The law enforcement
agency shall designate another individual within the agency to
accept a subpoena for the attendance of a law enforcement agency
employee if the designated individual is unavailable.
(d) The designated individual described by Subsection (b)
shall provide the subpoena to the employee named in the subpoena as
soon as practicable. The court presiding over the case for which
the subpoena was issued may require the designated individual and
law enforcement agency of the designated individual to pay court
costs incurred as a result of a failure to accept a subpoena or to
provide the subpoena to the employee named in the subpoena.
(e) The law enforcement agency shall post the address,
location, and name of the designated individual described by
Subsection (b) on the agency's Internet website, if any, and a
bulletin board in each courthouse in the county in which the
agency's main office is located.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 22, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 22.0025 to read as
follows:
Sec. 22.0025. SUBPOENAS FOR ATTENDANCE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY EMPLOYEES. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
code, the requirements for a subpoena for the attendance of a law
enforcement agency employee in a civil action are governed by
Section 23.251, Government Code.
SECTION 3. Article 24.04(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by Section 23.251,
Government Code, a [A] subpoena is served by:
(1) reading the subpoena in the hearing of the
witness;
(2) delivering a copy of the subpoena to the witness;
(3) electronically transmitting a copy of the
subpoena, acknowledgment of receipt requested, to the last known
electronic address of the witness; or
(4) mailing a copy of the subpoena by certified mail,
return receipt requested, to the last known address of the witness
unless:
(A) the applicant for the subpoena requests in
writing that the subpoena not be served by certified mail; or
(B) the proceeding for which the witness is being
subpoenaed is set to begin within seven business days after the date
the subpoena would be mailed.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a subpoena issued on or after the effective date of this Act. A
subpoena issued before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect on the date the subpoena was issued, and that law
continues in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.