Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1171 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R13766 LHC-D
2	2	By: Minjarez H.B. No. 1171
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1171:
4	4	By: Moody C.S.H.B. No. 1171
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the collection, storage, and analysis of sexual assault
10	10	evidence and evidence of other sex offenses.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 420, Government Code, is
13	13	amended by adding Section 420.034 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 420.034. EVIDENCE RELEASE AND STORAGE. (a) If a
15	15	health care facility or other entity that performs a medical
16	16	examination to collect evidence of a sexual assault or other sex
17	17	offense receives signed, written consent to release the evidence as
18	18	provided by Section 420.0735, the facility or entity shall notify
19	19	either the law enforcement agency investigating the alleged sexual
20	20	assault or other sex offense, if known, or the local law enforcement
21	21	agency not later than 24 hours after receiving consent.
22	22	(b) A law enforcement agency that receives notice from a
23	23	health care facility or other entity under Subsection (a) shall
24	24	take possession of the evidence not later than the 14th day after
25	25	the date the law enforcement agency receives notice.
26	26	(c) If a law enforcement agency that takes possession of
27	27	evidence under Subsection (b) determines that the agency does not
28	28	have jurisdiction over the investigation of the alleged sexual
29	29	assault or other sex offense, the law enforcement agency shall
30	30	notify the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the
31	31	investigation not later than 14 days after making that
32	32	determination.
33	33	(d) A law enforcement agency that receives notice under
34	34	Subsection (c) shall take possession of the evidence not later than
35	35	the 14th day after the date the law enforcement agency receives
36	36	notice.
37	37	(e) A health care facility or other entity that performs a
38	38	medical examination to collect evidence of a sexual assault or
39	39	other sex offense that has not obtained signed, written consent as
40	40	provided by Section 420.0735 shall provide the survivor with
41	41	information relating to:
42	42	(1) the facility's or entity's evidence storage policy
43	43	for evidence of a sexual assault or other sex offense, including a
44	44	statement of the period for which the evidence will be stored before
45	45	the evidence is destroyed; and
46	46	(2) the ways in which the survivor can release the
47	47	evidence to a law enforcement agency.
48	48	(f) A health care facility or other entity that performs a
49	49	medical examination must store evidence of a sexual assault or
50	50	other sex offense that is not released to a law enforcement agency
51	51	until at least the first anniversary of the date the evidence was
52	52	collected.
53	53	(g) The failure of a health care facility or other entity or
54	54	a law enforcement agency to comply with the requirements of this
55	55	section does not constitute grounds in a criminal proceeding for:
56	56	(1) a defendant to challenge the validity of a DNA
57	57	match obtained by comparison under Section 420.043; or
58	58	(2) a court to exclude DNA evidence.
59	59	(h) A person accused or convicted of committing a sexual
60	60	assault or other sex offense against the survivor does not have
61	61	standing to object to the failure of a health care facility or other
62	62	entity or a law enforcement agency to comply with the requirements
63	63	of this section. Failure of a facility, entity, or agency to comply
64	64	with the requirements of this section does not constitute grounds
65	65	for setting aside the conviction of a person convicted of
66	66	committing a sexual assault or other sex offense against the
67	67	survivor.
68	68	SECTION 2. Section 420.042, Government Code, is amended by
69	69	amending Subsections (a), (c), and (e) and adding Subsections (f)
70	70	and (g) to read as follows:
71	71	(a) A law enforcement agency that receives sexual assault
72	72	evidence or evidence of another sex offense collected under this
73	73	chapter or other law shall assign a unique number to the evidence
74	74	and shall submit that evidence to a public accredited crime
75	75	laboratory for analysis not later than the 14th [30th] day after the
76	76	date on which that evidence was received. Evidence submitted to a
77	77	public accredited crime laboratory under this subsection must
78	78	include the unique number assigned to the evidence by the agency.
79	79	(c) If sufficient personnel and resources are available, a
80	80	public accredited crime laboratory, as soon as practicable but not
81	81	later than the 60th day after the date on which the laboratory
82	82	received the evidence, shall complete its analysis of [sexual
83	83	assault] evidence submitted under this chapter or other law.
84	84	(e) The failure of a law enforcement agency to take
85	85	possession of sexual assault evidence or evidence of another sex
86	86	offense within the period required by Section 420.034 or to submit
87	87	that [sexual assault] evidence within the period required by this
88	88	section does not affect the authority of:
89	89	(1) the agency to take possession of the evidence;
90	90	(2) the agency to submit the evidence to an accredited
91	91	crime laboratory for analysis; [or]
92	92	(3) [(2)] an accredited crime laboratory to analyze
93	93	the evidence or provide the results of that analysis to appropriate
94	94	persons; or
95	95	(4) the department to compare the DNA profile obtained
96	96	from the biological evidence with DNA profiles in a database under
97	97	Section 420.043.
98	98	(f) The failure of a law enforcement agency or public
99	99	accredited crime laboratory to comply with the requirements of this
100	100	section does not constitute grounds in a criminal proceeding for:
101	101	(1) the defendant to challenge the validity of a DNA
102	102	match obtained by comparison under Section 420.043; or
103	103	(2) a court to exclude DNA evidence.
104	104	(g) A person accused or convicted of committing a sexual
105	105	assault or other sex offense against the survivor does not have
106	106	standing to object to the failure of a law enforcement agency or
107	107	public accredited crime laboratory to comply with the requirements
108	108	of this section. Failure of an agency or laboratory to comply with
109	109	the requirements of this section does not constitute grounds for
110	110	setting aside the conviction of a person convicted of committing a
111	111	sexual assault or other sex offense against the survivor.
112	112	SECTION 3. Section 420.043, Government Code, is amended to
113	113	read as follows:
114	114	Sec. 420.043. DATABASE COMPARISON REQUIRED. After [On the
115	115	request of any appropriate person and after] an evidence collection
116	116	kit containing biological evidence has been analyzed by an
117	117	accredited crime laboratory and any necessary quality assurance
118	118	reviews have been performed, the department shall compare the DNA
119	119	profile obtained from the biological evidence with DNA profiles
120	120	maintained in:
121	121	(1) state databases, including the DNA database
122	122	maintained under Subchapter G, Chapter 411, if the amount and
123	123	quality of the analyzed sample meet the requirements of the state
124	124	database comparison policies; and
125	125	(2) the CODIS DNA database established by the Federal
126	126	Bureau of Investigation, if the amount and quality of the analyzed
127	127	sample meet the requirements of the bureau's CODIS comparison
128	128	policies.
129	129	SECTION 4. (a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and
130	130	(c) of this section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only
131	131	to sexual assault evidence and evidence of other sex offenses
132	132	collected on or after the effective date of this Act. Evidence
133	133	collected before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
134	134	law in effect on the date the evidence was collected, and the former
135	135	law is continued in effect for that purpose.
136	136	(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section
137	137	420.042(a), Government Code, applies only to sexual assault
138	138	evidence and evidence of other sex offenses received by a law
139	139	enforcement agency not earlier than 14 days before the effective
140	140	date of this Act. Evidence received by a law enforcement agency
141	141	earlier than 14 days before the effective date of this Act is
142	142	governed by the law in effect on the date the evidence was received,
143	143	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
144	144	(c) The change in law made by this Act by adding Section
145	145	420.034(c), Government Code, applies only to sexual assault
146	146	evidence and evidence of other sex offenses received by a public
147	147	accredited crime laboratory on or after the effective date of this
148	148	Act. Evidence received by a public accredited crime laboratory
149	149	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
150	150	effect on the date the evidence was received, and the former law is
151	151	continued in effect for that purpose.
152	152	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.