Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1512 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Ellis, et al. S.B. No. 1512
2	2	(Vo)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the confidentiality of certain crime scene photographs
8	8	and video recordings.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 552.1085 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 552.1085. CONFIDENTIALITY OF SENSITIVE CRIME SCENE
13	13	IMAGE. (a) In this section:
14	14	(1) "Deceased person's next of kin" means:
15	15	(A) the surviving spouse of the deceased person;
16	16	(B) if there is no surviving spouse of the
17	17	deceased, an adult child of the deceased person; or
18	18	(C) if there is no surviving spouse or adult
19	19	child of the deceased, a parent of the deceased person.
20	20	(2) "Defendant" means a person being prosecuted for
21	21	the death of the deceased person or a person convicted of an offense
22	22	in relation to that death and appealing that conviction.
23	23	(3) "Expressive work" means:
24	24	(A) a fictional or nonfictional entertainment,
25	25	dramatic, literary, or musical work that is a play, book, article,
26	26	musical composition, audiovisual work, radio or television
27	27	program, work of art, or work of political, educational, or
28	28	newsworthy value;
29	29	(B) a work the primary function of which is the
30	30	delivery of news, information, current events, or other matters of
31	31	public interest or concern; or
32	32	(C) an advertisement or commercial announcement
33	33	of a work described by Paragraph (A) or (B).
34	34	(4) "Local governmental entity" means a county,
35	35	municipality, school district, charter school, junior college
36	36	district, or other political subdivision of this state.
37	37	(5) "Public or private institution of higher
38	38	education" means:
39	39	(A) an institution of higher education, as
40	40	defined by Section 61.003, Education Code; or
41	41	(B) a private or independent institution of
42	42	higher education, as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.
43	43	(6) "Sensitive crime scene image" means a photograph
44	44	or video recording taken at a crime scene, contained in or part of a
45	45	closed criminal case, that depicts a deceased person in a state of
46	46	dismemberment, decapitation, or similar mutilation or that depicts
47	47	the deceased person's genitalia.
48	48	(7) "State agency" means a department, commission,
49	49	board, office, or other agency that is a part of state government
50	50	and that is created by the constitution or a statute of this state.
51	51	The term includes an institution of higher education as defined by
52	52	Section 61.003, Education Code.
53	53	(b) For purposes of this section, an Internet website, the
54	54	primary function of which is not the delivery of news, information,
55	55	current events, or other matters of public interest or concern, is
56	56	not an expressive work.
57	57	(c) A sensitive crime scene image in the custody of a
58	58	governmental body is confidential and excepted from the
59	59	requirements of Section 552.021 and a governmental body may not
60	60	permit a person to view or copy the image except as provided by this
61	61	section. This section applies to any sensitive crime scene image
62	62	regardless of the date that the image was taken or recorded.
63	63	(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (c) and subject to
64	64	Subsection (e), the following persons may view or copy information
65	65	that constitutes a sensitive crime scene image from a governmental
66	66	body:
67	67	(1) the deceased person's next of kin;
68	68	(2) a person authorized in writing by the deceased
69	69	person's next of kin;
70	70	(3) a defendant or the defendant's attorney;
71	71	(4) a person who establishes to the governmental body
72	72	an interest in a sensitive crime scene image that is based on,
73	73	connected with, or in support of the creation, in any medium, of an
74	74	expressive work;
75	75	(5) a person performing bona fide research sponsored
76	76	by a public or private institution of higher education with
77	77	approval of a supervisor of the research or a supervising faculty
78	78	member;
79	79	(6) a state agency;
80	80	(7) an agency of the federal government; or
81	81	(8) a local governmental entity.
82	82	(e) This section does not prohibit a governmental body from
83	83	asserting an exception to disclosure of a sensitive crime scene
84	84	image to a person identified in Subsection (d) on the grounds that
85	85	the image is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021
86	86	under another provision of this chapter or another law.
87	87	(f) Not later than the 10th business day after the date a
88	88	governmental body receives a request for a sensitive crime scene
89	89	image from a person described by Subsection (d)(4) or (5), the
90	90	governmental body shall notify the deceased person's next of kin of
91	91	the request in writing. The notice must be sent to the next of kin's
92	92	last known address.
93	93	(g) A governmental body that receives a request for
94	94	information that constitutes a sensitive crime scene image shall
95	95	allow a person described in Subsection (d) to view or copy the image
96	96	not later than the 10th business day after the date the governmental
97	97	body receives the request unless the governmental body files a
98	98	request for an attorney general decision under Subchapter G
99	99	regarding whether an exception to public disclosure applies to the
100	100	information.
101	101	SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
102	102	only to the disclosure or copying of a sensitive crime scene image
103	103	on or after September 1, 2013.
104	104	(b) The disclosure or copying of a sensitive crime scene
105	105	image before September 1, 2013, is covered by the law in effect when
106	106	the image was disclosed or copied, and the former law is continued
107	107	in effect for that purpose.
108	108	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.