Texas 2017 - 85th 1st C.S.

Texas House Bill HB166 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85S10378 LHC-D
2	2	By: Minjarez H.B. No. 166
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the collection, storage, and analysis of sexual assault
8	8	evidence and evidence of other sex offenses.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 420, Government Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 420.035 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 420.035. EVIDENCE RELEASE AND STORAGE. (a) If a
13	13	health care facility or other entity that performs a medical
14	14	examination to collect evidence of a sexual assault or other sex
15	15	offense receives signed, written consent to release the evidence as
16	16	provided by Section 420.0735, the facility or entity shall notify
17	17	either the law enforcement agency investigating the alleged sexual
18	18	assault or other sex offense, if known, or the local law enforcement
19	19	agency not later than 24 hours after receiving consent.
20	20	(b) A law enforcement agency that receives notice from a
21	21	health care facility or other entity under Subsection (a) shall
22	22	take possession of the evidence not later than the 14th day after
23	23	the date the law enforcement agency receives notice.
24	24	(c) If a law enforcement agency that takes possession of
25	25	evidence under Subsection (b) determines that the agency does not
26	26	have jurisdiction over the investigation of the alleged sexual
27	27	assault or other sex offense, the law enforcement agency shall
28	28	notify the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the
29	29	investigation not later than the 14th day after the date that
30	30	determination is made.
31	31	(d) A law enforcement agency that receives notice under
32	32	Subsection (c) shall take possession of the evidence not later than
33	33	the 14th day after the date the law enforcement agency receives
34	34	notice.
35	35	(e) A health care facility or other entity that performs a
36	36	medical examination to collect evidence of a sexual assault or
37	37	other sex offense that has not obtained signed, written consent as
38	38	provided by Section 420.0735 shall provide the survivor with
39	39	information relating to:
40	40	(1) the facility's or entity's evidence storage policy
41	41	for evidence of a sexual assault or other sex offense, including a
42	42	statement of the period for which the evidence will be stored before
43	43	the evidence is destroyed; and
44	44	(2) the ways in which the survivor can release the
45	45	evidence to a law enforcement agency.
46	46	(f) A health care facility or other entity that performs a
47	47	medical examination must store evidence of a sexual assault or
48	48	other sex offense that is not released to a law enforcement agency
49	49	until at least the first anniversary of the date the evidence was
50	50	collected.
51	51	(g) The failure of a health care facility or other entity or
52	52	a law enforcement agency to comply with the requirements of this
53	53	section does not constitute grounds in a criminal proceeding for:
54	54	(1) a defendant to challenge the validity of a DNA
55	55	match obtained by comparison under Section 420.043; or
56	56	(2) a court to exclude DNA evidence.
57	57	(h) A person accused or convicted of committing a sexual
58	58	assault or other sex offense against the survivor does not have
59	59	standing to object to the failure of a health care facility or other
60	60	entity or a law enforcement agency to comply with the requirements
61	61	of this section. Failure of a facility, entity, or agency to comply
62	62	with the requirements of this section does not constitute grounds
63	63	for setting aside the conviction of a person convicted of
64	64	committing a sexual assault or other sex offense against the
65	65	survivor.
66	66	SECTION 2. Section 420.042, Government Code, is amended by
67	67	amending Subsections (a), (c), and (e) and adding Subsections (f)
68	68	and (g) to read as follows:
69	69	(a) A law enforcement agency that receives sexual assault
70	70	evidence or evidence of another sex offense collected under this
71	71	chapter or other law shall assign a unique number to the evidence
72	72	and shall submit that evidence to a public accredited crime
73	73	laboratory for analysis not later than the 14th [30th] day after the
74	74	date on which that evidence was received. Evidence submitted to a
75	75	public accredited crime laboratory under this subsection must
76	76	include the unique number assigned to the evidence by the agency.
77	77	(c) If sufficient personnel and resources are available, a
78	78	public accredited crime laboratory, as soon as practicable but not
79	79	later than the 60th day after the date on which the laboratory
80	80	received the evidence, shall complete its analysis of [sexual
81	81	assault] evidence submitted under this chapter or other law.
82	82	(e) The failure of a law enforcement agency to take
83	83	possession of sexual assault evidence or evidence of another sex
84	84	offense within the period required by Section 420.035 or to submit
85	85	that [sexual assault] evidence within the period required by this
86	86	section does not affect the authority of:
87	87	(1) the agency to take possession of the evidence;
88	88	(2) the agency to submit the evidence to an accredited
89	89	crime laboratory for analysis; [or]
90	90	(3) [(2)] an accredited crime laboratory to analyze
91	91	the evidence or provide the results of that analysis to appropriate
92	92	persons; or
93	93	(4) the department to compare the DNA profile obtained
94	94	from the biological evidence with DNA profiles in a database under
95	95	Section 420.043.
96	96	(f) The failure of a law enforcement agency or public
97	97	accredited crime laboratory to comply with the requirements of this
98	98	section does not constitute grounds in a criminal proceeding for:
99	99	(1) the defendant to challenge the validity of a DNA
100	100	match obtained by comparison under Section 420.043; or
101	101	(2) a court to exclude DNA evidence.
102	102	(g) A person accused or convicted of committing a sexual
103	103	assault or other sex offense against the survivor does not have
104	104	standing to object to the failure of a law enforcement agency or
105	105	public accredited crime laboratory to comply with the requirements
106	106	of this section. Failure of an agency or laboratory to comply with
107	107	the requirements of this section does not constitute grounds for
108	108	setting aside the conviction of a person convicted of committing a
109	109	sexual assault or other sex offense against the survivor.
110	110	SECTION 3. Section 420.043, Government Code, is amended to
111	111	read as follows:
112	112	Sec. 420.043. DATABASE COMPARISON REQUIRED. After [On the
113	113	request of any appropriate person and after] an evidence collection
114	114	kit containing biological evidence has been analyzed by an
115	115	accredited crime laboratory and any necessary quality assurance
116	116	reviews have been performed, the department shall compare the DNA
117	117	profile obtained from the biological evidence with DNA profiles
118	118	maintained in:
119	119	(1) state databases, including the DNA database
120	120	maintained under Subchapter G, Chapter 411, if the amount and
121	121	quality of the analyzed sample meet the requirements of the state
122	122	database comparison policies; and
123	123	(2) the CODIS DNA database established by the Federal
124	124	Bureau of Investigation, if the amount and quality of the analyzed
125	125	sample meet the requirements of the bureau's CODIS comparison
126	126	policies.
127	127	SECTION 4. (a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and
128	128	(c) of this section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only
129	129	to sexual assault evidence and evidence of other sex offenses
130	130	collected on or after the effective date of this Act. Evidence
131	131	collected before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
132	132	law in effect on the date the evidence was collected, and the former
133	133	law is continued in effect for that purpose.
134	134	(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section
135	135	420.042(a), Government Code, applies only to sexual assault
136	136	evidence and evidence of other sex offenses received by a law
137	137	enforcement agency not earlier than the 14th day before the
138	138	effective date of this Act. Evidence received by a law enforcement
139	139	agency earlier than the 14th day before the effective date of this
140	140	Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the evidence was
141	141	received, and the former law is continued in effect for that
142	142	purpose.
143	143	(c) The change in law made by this Act by amending Section
144	144	420.042(c), Government Code, applies only to sexual assault
145	145	evidence and evidence of other sex offenses received by a public
146	146	accredited crime laboratory on or after the effective date of this
147	147	Act. Evidence received by a public accredited crime laboratory
148	148	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
149	149	effect on the date the evidence was received, and the former law is
150	150	continued in effect for that purpose.
151	151	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect December 1, 2017.