Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1223 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	2015S0362-1 03/03/15
2	2	By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 1223
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to requiring the consent of all parties to legally
8	8	intercept certain communications.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 123.001(2), Civil Practice and Remedies
11	11	Code, is amended to read as follows:
12	12	(2) "Interception" means the aural acquisition of the
13	13	contents of a communication through the use of an electronic,
14	14	mechanical, or other device that is made without the consent of all
15	15	parties [a party] to the communication, but does not include the
16	16	ordinary use of:
17	17	(A) a telephone or telegraph instrument or
18	18	facility or telephone and telegraph equipment;
19	19	(B) a hearing aid designed to correct subnormal
20	20	hearing to not better than normal;
21	21	(C) a radio, television, or other wireless
22	22	receiver; or
23	23	(D) a cable system that relays a public wireless
24	24	broadcast from a common antenna to a receiver.
25	25	SECTION 2. Section 16.02, Penal Code, is amended by
26	26	amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
27	27	follows:
28	28	(c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
29	29	Subsection (b) that:
30	30	(1) an operator of a switchboard or an officer,
31	31	employee, or agent of a communication common carrier whose
32	32	facilities are used in the transmission of a wire or electronic
33	33	communication intercepts a communication or discloses or uses an
34	34	intercepted communication in the normal course of employment while
35	35	engaged in an activity that is a necessary incident to the rendition
36	36	of service or to the protection of the rights or property of the
37	37	carrier of the communication, unless the interception results from
38	38	the communication common carrier's use of service observing or
39	39	random monitoring for purposes other than mechanical or service
40	40	quality control checks;
41	41	(2) an officer, employee, or agent of a communication
42	42	common carrier provides information, facilities, or technical
43	43	assistance to an investigative or law enforcement officer who is
44	44	authorized as provided by this section to intercept a wire, oral, or
45	45	electronic communication;
46	46	(3) a person acting under color of law intercepts:
47	47	(A) a wire, oral, or electronic communication, if
48	48	the person is a party to the communication or if one of the parties
49	49	to the communication has given prior consent to the interception;
50	50	(B) a wire, oral, or electronic communication, if
51	51	the person is acting under the authority of Article 18.20, Code of
52	52	Criminal Procedure; or
53	53	(C) a wire or electronic communication made by a
54	54	computer trespasser and transmitted to, through, or from a
55	55	protected computer, if:
56	56	(i) the interception did not acquire a
57	57	communication other than one transmitted to or from the computer
58	58	trespasser;
59	59	(ii) the owner of the protected computer
60	60	consented to the interception of the computer trespasser's
61	61	communications on the protected computer; and
62	62	(iii) the actor was lawfully engaged in an
63	63	ongoing criminal investigation and the actor had reasonable
64	64	suspicion to believe that the contents of the computer trespasser's
65	65	communications likely to be obtained would be material to the
66	66	investigation;
67	67	(4) a person not acting under color of law intercepts a
68	68	wire, oral, or electronic communication, if:
69	69	(A) the person alleges that the communication:
70	70	(i) is of an emergency nature, such as the
71	71	reporting of a fire, medical emergency, crime, or disaster;
72	72	(ii) conveys a threat to themselves or
73	73	others or makes other unlawful requests or demands [is a party to
74	74	the communication]; [or]
75	75	(B) the person is an employee of a communication
76	76	common carrier requested to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic
77	77	communication for the sole purpose of tracing the origin of such
78	78	communication when the interception is requested by the recipient
79	79	of the communication and the recipient alleges that the
80	80	communication:
81	81	(i) is obscene, harassing, or threatening
82	82	in nature; or
83	83	(ii) occurs anonymously, repeatedly, or at
84	84	an extremely inconvenient hour; or
85	85	(C) all [one] of the parties to the communication
86	86	have [has] given prior consent to the interception, unless the
87	87	communication is intercepted for the purpose of committing an
88	88	unlawful act;
89	89	(5) a person acting under color of law intercepts a
90	90	wire, oral, or electronic communication if:
91	91	(A) oral or written consent for the interception
92	92	is given by a magistrate before the interception;
93	93	(B) an immediate life-threatening situation
94	94	exists;
95	95	(C) the person is a member of a law enforcement
96	96	unit specially trained to:
97	97	(i) respond to and deal with
98	98	life-threatening situations; or
99	99	(ii) install electronic, mechanical, or
100	100	other devices; and
101	101	(D) the interception ceases immediately on
102	102	termination of the life-threatening situation;
103	103	(6) an officer, employee, or agent of the Federal
104	104	Communications Commission intercepts a communication transmitted
105	105	by radio or discloses or uses an intercepted communication in the
106	106	normal course of employment and in the discharge of the monitoring
107	107	responsibilities exercised by the Federal Communications
108	108	Commission in the enforcement of Chapter 5, Title 47, United States
109	109	Code;
110	110	(7) a person intercepts or obtains access to an
111	111	electronic communication that was made through an electronic
112	112	communication system that is configured to permit the communication
113	113	to be readily accessible to the general public;
114	114	(8) a person intercepts radio communication, other
115	115	than a cordless telephone communication that is transmitted between
116	116	a cordless telephone handset and a base unit, that is transmitted:
117	117	(A) by a station for the use of the general
118	118	public;
119	119	(B) to ships, aircraft, vehicles, or persons in
120	120	distress;
121	121	(C) by a governmental, law enforcement, civil
122	122	defense, private land mobile, or public safety communications
123	123	system that is readily accessible to the general public, unless the
124	124	radio communication is transmitted by a law enforcement
125	125	representative to or from a mobile data terminal;
126	126	(D) by a station operating on an authorized
127	127	frequency within the bands allocated to the amateur, citizens band,
128	128	or general mobile radio services; or
129	129	(E) by a marine or aeronautical communications
130	130	system;
131	131	(9) a person intercepts a wire or electronic
132	132	communication the transmission of which causes harmful
133	133	interference to a lawfully operating station or consumer electronic
134	134	equipment, to the extent necessary to identify the source of the
135	135	interference;
136	136	(10) a user of the same frequency intercepts a radio
137	137	communication made through a system that uses frequencies monitored
138	138	by individuals engaged in the provision or the use of the system, if
139	139	the communication is not scrambled or encrypted; or
140	140	(11) a provider of electronic communications service
141	141	records the fact that a wire or electronic communication was
142	142	initiated or completed in order to protect the provider, another
143	143	provider furnishing service towards the completion of the
144	144	communication, or a user of that service from fraudulent, unlawful,
145	145	or abusive use of the service.
146	146	(c-1) A person conducting an interception under Subsection
147	147	(c)(4)(B) shall notify local police authorities within 48 hours
148	148	after the time of the interception.
149	149	SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
150	150	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
151	151	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
152	152	governed by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
153	153	the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For the
154	154	purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
155	155	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense is
156	156	committed before that date.
157	157	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.