83R661 GCB-D
By: Estes S.B. No. 1088
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to warrants issued to obtain location information from
wireless communications devices.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 18.02, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 18.02. GROUNDS FOR ISSUANCE. A search warrant may be
issued to search for and seize:
(1) property acquired by theft or in any other manner
which makes its acquisition a penal offense;
(2) property specially designed, made, or adapted for
or commonly used in the commission of an offense;
(3) arms and munitions kept or prepared for the
purposes of insurrection or riot;
(4) weapons prohibited by the Penal Code;
(5) gambling devices or equipment, altered gambling
equipment, or gambling paraphernalia;
(6) obscene materials kept or prepared for commercial
distribution or exhibition, subject to the additional rules set
forth by law;
(7) a drug, controlled substance, immediate
precursor, chemical precursor, or other controlled substance
property, including an apparatus or paraphernalia kept, prepared,
or manufactured in violation of the laws of this state;
(8) any property the possession of which is prohibited
by law;
(9) implements or instruments used in the commission
of a crime;
(10) property or items, except the personal writings
by the accused, constituting evidence of an offense or constituting
evidence tending to show that a particular person committed an
offense;
(11) persons; [or]
(12) contraband subject to forfeiture under Chapter 59
of this code; or
(13) location information as defined by Article 18.21.
SECTION 2. Section 1, Article 18.21, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Subdivision (4-a) to read as
follows:
(4-a) "Location information" means any information
that:
(A) concerns the location of a cellular telephone
or other wireless communications device; and
(B) is wholly or partly generated by or derived
from the operation of the device.
SECTION 3. Article 18.21, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Section 14A to read as follows:
Sec. 14A. WARRANT FOR LOCATION INFORMATION FROM CELLULAR
TELEPHONE OR OTHER WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE. (a) A district
judge may issue a warrant for location information provided by the
preinstalled mobile tracking features of a cellular telephone or
other wireless communications device. A warrant under this section
may be issued only in the same judicial district as the site of:
(1) the investigation; or
(2) the person, vehicle, container, item, or object
the movement of which will be tracked by the location information
obtained from the wireless communications device.
(b) The warrant may authorize the acquisition of location
information obtained from a wireless communications device that, at
the time the location information is acquired, is located outside
the judicial district but within the state if the applicant for the
warrant reasonably believes the device to be located within the
district at the time the warrant is issued.
(c) A district judge may issue the warrant only on the
application of an authorized peace officer. An application must be
written and signed and then sworn to or affirmed before the judge.
The affidavit must:
(1) state the name, department, agency, and address of
the applicant;
(2) identify the wireless communications device to be
monitored;
(3) state the name of the owner or possessor of the
device to be monitored;
(4) state the judicial district in which the device is
reasonably expected to be located; and
(5) state the facts and circumstances that provide the
applicant with probable cause to believe that:
(A) criminal activity has been, is, or will be
committed; and
(B) acquisition of location information from the
device is likely to produce evidence in a criminal investigation of
the criminal activity described in Paragraph (A).
(d) A warrant issued under this section must be executed
within the period provided by Article 18.07 by properly serving the
warrant on a communication common carrier or an electronic
communications service. A warrant issued under this section
expires not later than the 90th day after the date the warrant is
issued, and location information may not be obtained after the
expiration date without an extension of the warrant. For good cause
shown, the judge may grant an extension for an additional 90-day
period.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.