| 1 | 1 | | 85R27012 JCG-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Davis of Harris, Guerra, Burkett H.B. No. 2467 |
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| 3 | 3 | | Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2467: |
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| 4 | 4 | | By: Price C.S.H.B. No. 2467 |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to a grant program to support the provision of critical |
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| 10 | 10 | | incident stress debriefing to certain peace officers. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 772, Government Code, is |
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| 13 | 13 | | amended by adding Section 772.0074 to read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | Sec. 772.0074. CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS DEBRIEFING GRANT |
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| 15 | 15 | | PROGRAM. (a) In this section: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (1) "Criminal justice division" means the criminal |
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| 17 | 17 | | justice division established under Section 772.006. |
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| 18 | 18 | | (2) "Critical incident" means an incident involving a |
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| 19 | 19 | | peace officer that occurs while the officer is performing official |
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| 20 | 20 | | duties and that results in serious bodily injury to the officer or |
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| 21 | 21 | | poses a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death to the |
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| 22 | 22 | | officer or of serious harm to the officer's mental health or |
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| 23 | 23 | | well-being. |
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| 24 | 24 | | (3) "Law enforcement agency" means an agency of the |
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| 25 | 25 | | state or an agency of a political subdivision of the state that is |
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| 26 | 26 | | authorized by law to employ peace officers. |
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| 27 | 27 | | (4) "Peace officer" has the meaning assigned by |
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| 28 | 28 | | Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure. |
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| 29 | 29 | | (b) The criminal justice division shall establish and |
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| 30 | 30 | | administer a grant program to assist law enforcement agencies in |
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| 31 | 31 | | providing critical incident stress debriefing to peace officers who |
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| 32 | 32 | | experience critical incidents while performing official duties. |
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| 33 | 33 | | (c) The criminal justice division may award a grant under |
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| 34 | 34 | | this section to: |
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| 35 | 35 | | (1) a law enforcement agency for the agency to provide |
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| 36 | 36 | | critical incident stress debriefing to peace officers employed by |
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| 37 | 37 | | the agency; or |
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| 38 | 38 | | (2) any other agency or organization to assist the |
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| 39 | 39 | | agency or organization in providing support for the grant program, |
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| 40 | 40 | | including support related to the development, implementation, |
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| 41 | 41 | | management, or evaluation of the grant program, as determined |
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| 42 | 42 | | necessary by the division. |
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| 43 | 43 | | (d) A law enforcement agency that receives a grant under |
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| 44 | 44 | | this section must: |
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| 45 | 45 | | (1) inform each peace officer employed by the agency |
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| 46 | 46 | | about: |
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| 47 | 47 | | (A) the program, including opportunities to |
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| 48 | 48 | | participate in the program; and |
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| 49 | 49 | | (B) if the officer participates in the program, |
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| 50 | 50 | | the confidentiality protections described by Subsection (e); and |
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| 51 | 51 | | (2) certify in writing that the agency will not use |
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| 52 | 52 | | disciplinary action or any other form of punishment, including the |
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| 53 | 53 | | refusal of a promotion, to discourage or prohibit an officer's |
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| 54 | 54 | | participation in the critical incident stress debriefing offered by |
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| 55 | 55 | | the agency. |
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| 56 | 56 | | (e) Critical incident stress debriefing provided using |
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| 57 | 57 | | money distributed under the grant program is subject to the |
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| 58 | 58 | | confidentiality protections provided under Section 784.003, Health |
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| 59 | 59 | | and Safety Code. |
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| 60 | 60 | | (f) The criminal justice division shall establish: |
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| 61 | 61 | | (1) eligibility criteria for grant applicants; |
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| 62 | 62 | | (2) grant application procedures; |
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| 63 | 63 | | (3) procedures for evaluating grant applications; |
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| 64 | 64 | | (4) the minimum qualifications necessary for a person |
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| 65 | 65 | | to conduct critical incident stress debriefing that is provided |
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| 66 | 66 | | using money distributed under the grant program; and |
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| 67 | 67 | | (5) guidance for the development of critical incident |
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| 68 | 68 | | stress debriefing curricula, materials, and best practices. |
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| 69 | 69 | | (g) The criminal justice division shall include in the |
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| 70 | 70 | | biennial report required by Section 772.006(a)(9) a detailed |
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| 71 | 71 | | reporting of the results and performance of the grant program |
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| 72 | 72 | | administered under this section. |
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| 73 | 73 | | SECTION 2. Not later than October 1, 2017, the criminal |
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| 74 | 74 | | justice division of the governor's office shall establish the grant |
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| 75 | 75 | | program required by Section 772.0074, Government Code, as added by |
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| 76 | 76 | | this Act, and, not later than January 1, 2018, shall begin to award |
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| 77 | 77 | | grants under the program. |
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| 78 | 78 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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