By: Murr, Thompson of Brazoria H.B. No. 1595
(Senate Sponsor - Whitmire)
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2015;
May 4, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 21, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 21, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE VOTE
YeaNayAbsentPNV
WhitmireX
HuffmanX
BurtonX
CreightonX
HinojosaX
MenéndezX
PerryX
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to testing certain defendants or confined persons for
communicable diseases.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Article 18.22, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
Art. 18.22. TESTING CERTAIN DEFENDANTS OR CONFINED PERSONS
FOR COMMUNICABLE DISEASES [FOLLOWING CERTAIN ARRESTS].
SECTION 2. Article 18.22, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection
(d) to read as follows:
(a) A person who is arrested for a misdemeanor or felony and
who during the commission of that offense or the [an] arrest, during
a judicial proceeding or initial period of confinement following
the arrest, or during the person's confinement after a conviction
or adjudication resulting from the arrest [commission of that
offense] causes the person's bodily fluids to come into contact
with a peace officer, a magistrate, or an employee of a correctional
facility where the person is confined [to come into contact with the
person's bodily fluids] shall, at the direction of the court having
jurisdiction over the arrested person, undergo a medical procedure
or test designed to show or help show whether the person has a
communicable disease. The court may direct the person to undergo
the procedure or test on its own motion or on the request of the
peace officer, magistrate, or correctional facility employee. If
the person refuses to submit voluntarily to the procedure or test,
the court shall require the person to submit to the procedure or
test. Notwithstanding any other law, the person performing the
procedure or test shall make the test results available to the local
health authority, and the local health authority shall notify the
peace officer, magistrate, or correctional facility employee, as
appropriate, of the test result. The state may not use the fact
that a medical procedure or test was performed on a person under
this article, or use the results of the procedure or test, in any
criminal proceeding arising out of the alleged offense.
(b) Testing under this article shall be conducted in
accordance with written infectious disease control protocols
adopted by the Department [Texas Board] of State Health Services
that clearly establish procedural guidelines that provide criteria
for testing and that respect the rights of the arrested person and
the peace officer, magistrate, or correctional facility employee.
(d) In this article, "correctional facility" means:
(1) any place described by Section 1.07(a)(14), Penal
Code; or
(2) a "secure correctional facility" or "secure
detention facility" as those terms are defined by Section 51.02,
Family Code.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
motion by the court or request of a magistrate or correctional
facility employee made on or after the effective date of this Act,
regardless of whether the offense for which the person was arrested
or the applicable contact with bodily fluids occurred before, on,
or after that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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