Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB250 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: West S.B. No. 250
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed January 25, 2013; January 29, 2013,
3	3	read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
4	4	February 20, 2013, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas
5	5	5, Nays 0; February 20, 2013, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to the requirements of using certain technology to conduct
11	11	certain mental health hearings or proceedings.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 574.202, Health and
14	14	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
15	15	(a) A judge or magistrate may permit a physician or a
16	16	nonphysician mental health professional to testify at a hearing or
17	17	proceeding by closed-circuit video teleconferencing if:
18	18	(1) closed-circuit video teleconferencing is
19	19	available to the judge or magistrate for that purpose;
20	20	(2) the proposed patient and the attorney representing
21	21	the proposed patient do not file with the court a written objection
22	22	to the use of closed-circuit video teleconferencing;
23	23	(3) the closed-circuit video teleconferencing system
24	24	provides for a simultaneous, compressed full-motion video and
25	25	interactive communication of image and sound between all persons
26	26	involved in the hearing; [and]
27	27	(4) on request of the proposed patient, the proposed
28	28	patient and the proposed patient's attorney can communicate
29	29	privately without being recorded or heard by the judge or
30	30	magistrate or by the attorney representing the state; and
31	31	(5) the proposed patient is in the same location for
32	32	the hearing or proceeding as the proposed patient's attorney.
33	33	SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 574.203, Health and
34	34	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
35	35	(a) A hearing may be conducted in accordance with this
36	36	chapter but conducted by secure electronic means, including
37	37	satellite transmission, closed-circuit television transmission, or
38	38	any other method of two-way electronic communication that is
39	39	secure, available to the parties, approved by the court, and
40	40	capable of visually and audibly recording the proceedings, if:
41	41	(1) written consent to the use of a secure electronic
42	42	communication method for the hearing is filed with the court by:
43	43	(A) the proposed patient or the attorney
44	44	representing the proposed patient; and
45	45	(B) the county or district attorney, as
46	46	appropriate;
47	47	(2) the secure electronic communication method
48	48	provides for a simultaneous, compressed full-motion video, and
49	49	interactive communication of image and sound among the judge or
50	50	associate judge, the county or district attorney, the attorney
51	51	representing the proposed patient, and the proposed patient; [and]
52	52	(3) on request of the proposed patient or the attorney
53	53	representing the proposed patient, the proposed patient and the
54	54	attorney can communicate privately without being recorded or heard
55	55	by the judge or associate judge or by the county or district
56	56	attorney; and
57	57	(4) the proposed patient is in the same location for
58	58	the hearing as the proposed patient's attorney.
59	59	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
60	60	* * * * *