H.B. No. 1590
AN ACT
relating to statewide policies and practices, personnel training,
evidence collection and preservation, and data collection and
analysis regarding the prevention, investigation, and prosecution
of sexual assault and other sex offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 420.012, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 420.012. CONSULTATIONS. In implementing this chapter,
the attorney general shall consult with:
(1) state sexual assault coalitions;
(2) state agencies, task forces, and councils that
have duties relating to the prevention, investigation, or
prosecution of sexual assault or other sex offenses or services
provided to survivors;
(3) forensic science experts; and
(4) individuals [persons] and organizations having
knowledge and experience relating to the issues of sexual assault
and other sex offenses.
SECTION 2. Section 420.031(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) In developing the evidence collection kit and protocol,
the attorney general shall consult with the individuals and
organizations listed in Section 420.012 [having knowledge and
experience in the issues of sexual assault and other sex offenses].
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 772, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 772.0064 to read as follows:
Sec. 772.0064. SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS' TASK FORCE. (a)
In this section:
(1) "Sexual assault," "sexual assault nurse
examiner," and "survivor" have the meanings assigned by Section
420.003.
(2) "Task force" means the Sexual Assault Survivors'
Task Force.
(b) The governor shall establish the Sexual Assault
Survivors' Task Force within the criminal justice division
established under Section 772.006.
(c) The task force shall include a steering committee
composed of the following members:
(1) the governor or the governor's designee;
(2) the president of the state sexual assault
coalition, as defined by Section 420.003, or the president's
designee; and
(3) the president of the statewide organization
described by Section 264.409, Family Code, or the president's
designee.
(d) The task force is composed of the following members:
(1) the governor or the governor's designee;
(2) a representative of each state agency that has
duties relating to the prevention, investigation, or prosecution of
sexual assault or other sex offenses or provides services to
survivors, including:
(A) the office of the attorney general; and
(B) the Health and Human Services Commission;
(3) the executive director of the Texas Commission on
Law Enforcement or the executive director's designee;
(4) the presiding officer of the Texas Forensic
Science Commission or the presiding officer's designee;
(5) the division director of the law enforcement
support division of the Texas Department of Public Safety with
authority over the Crime Laboratory Service or the division
director's designee;
(6) the president of the Texas Association of Crime
Laboratory Directors or the president's designee;
(7) the president of the Texas District and County
Attorney's Association or the president's designee;
(8) the president of the Texas Society of Pathologists
or the president's designee;
(9) the president of the International Association of
Forensic Nurses Texas Chapter or the president's designee;
(10) the president of the statewide organization
described by Section 264.409, Family Code, or the president's
designee;
(11) the president of the state sexual assault
coalition, as defined by Section 420.003, or the president's
designee;
(12) a representative from a law enforcement agency
appointed by the steering committee described by Subsection (c);
(13) a sexual assault nurse examiner appointed by the
steering committee described by Subsection (c) to represent the
interests of health care facilities that perform sexual assault
forensic exams; and
(14) other members considered appropriate by the
steering committee described by Subsection (c).
(e) An appointed member serves at the pleasure of the
appointing official.
(f) The governor is the presiding officer of the task force.
(g) The task force shall meet at the call of the governor.
(h) The steering committee shall:
(1) create within the task force:
(A) a working group focusing on survivors who are
children; and
(B) a working group focusing on survivors who are
adults;
(2) ensure that the task force identifies systemic
issues and solutions pertaining to survivors of all ages;
(3) ensure that the task force does not unnecessarily
duplicate existing standards, information, and protocol in
preventing, investigating, prosecuting, and responding to sexual
assault and other sex offenses; and
(4) review and approve all task force reports,
recommendations, resources, protocols, advice, and other
information before release.
(i) The task force shall:
(1) develop policy recommendations to allow the state
to:
(A) effectively coordinate funding for services
to child and adult survivors; and
(B) better prevent, investigate, and prosecute
incidents of sexual assault and other sex offenses;
(2) facilitate communication and cooperation between
state agencies that have duties relating to the prevention,
investigation, or prosecution of sexual assault or other sex
offenses or services provided to survivors in order to identify and
coordinate state resources available for assisting survivors;
(3) collect, analyze, and make publicly available
information, organized by region, regarding the prevention,
investigation, and prosecution of sexual assault and other sex
offenses and services provided to survivors, including a list of
SAFE-ready facilities designated under Section 323.0015, Health
and Safety Code;
(4) make and periodically update recommendations
regarding the collection, preservation, tracking, analysis, and
destruction of evidence in cases of sexual assault or other sex
offenses, including recommendations:
(A) to the attorney general regarding:
(i) evidence collection kits for use in the
collection and preservation of evidence of sexual assault or other
sex offenses;
(ii) protocols for the collection and
preservation of evidence of sexual assault or other sex offenses;
(iii) the curriculum for training programs
on collecting and preserving evidence of sexual assault and other
sex offenses; and
(iv) the requirements for certification of
sexual assault nurse examiners; and
(B) to other appropriate individuals or
organizations, regarding:
(i) the procedures for obtaining patient
authorization for forensic medical examinations of child and adult
survivors under Articles 56.06 and 56.065, Code of Criminal
Procedure;
(ii) the requirements for maintaining an
appropriate evidentiary chain of custody;
(iii) the identification and reporting of
untested evidence throughout the state; and
(iv) standards for the submission of
evidence to forensic laboratories for analysis, including
procedures for submitting evidence in cases for which no evidence
has been previously submitted or tested;
(5) advise and provide resources to the Texas
Commission on Law Enforcement and other law enforcement
organizations to improve law enforcement officer training related
to the investigation and documentation of cases involving sexual
assault and other sex offenses, with a focus on the interactions
between law enforcement officers and survivors;
(6) provide to law enforcement agencies, prosecutors,
and judges with jurisdiction over sexual assault or other sex
offense cases information and resources to maximize effective and
empathetic investigation, prosecution, and hearings, including
information and resources:
(A) regarding trauma-informed practices and the
dynamics and effects of sexual assault and other sex offenses on
child and adult survivors;
(B) intended to improve the understanding of and
the response to sexual assault or other sex offenses;
(C) regarding best practices in the
investigation and prosecution of sexual assault or other sex
offenses; and
(D) for judges regarding common issues in the
criminal trials of sexual assault and other sex offenses;
(7) biennially contract for a survey of the resources
provided to survivors by nonprofit organizations, health care
facilities, institutions of higher education, sexual assault
response teams, and other governmental entities in each region of
the state;
(8) make recommendations as necessary to improve the
collecting and reporting of data on the investigation and
prosecution of sexual assault and other sex offenses; and
(9) develop a statewide standard for best practices in
the funding and provision of services to survivors by nonprofit
organizations, health care facilities, institutions of higher
education, sexual assault response teams, and other governmental
entities.
(j) Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year,
the task force shall analyze the data from the survey performed
under Subsection (i), prepare a report, or contract with a private
entity for the preparation of a report, and submit to the
legislature the report, which must include:
(1) a description of the resources provided to child
and adult survivors by nonprofit organizations, health care
facilities, institutions of higher education, sexual assault
response teams, and governmental entities in each region of the
state;
(2) a description of the differences between the
resources provided to both child and adult survivors and the
statewide standard, comparable by region and by year;
(3) recommendations on measures the state and each
region could take to better comply with the statewide standard;
(4) a description of potential sources and mechanisms
of funding available to implement the recommendations; and
(5) recommendations for accomplishing policy goals.
(k) To the extent possible, all recommendations, standards,
and resource information provided by the task force must be
evidence-based and consistent with standards of practice and care
in this state and throughout the country.
(l) The task force shall use any available federal or state
funding for the purposes of this section.
(m) This section expires September 1, 2023.
SECTION 4. Section 1701.253, Occupations Code, is amended
by adding Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to read as follows:
(b-1) The commission shall consult with the Sexual Assault
Survivors' Task Force established under Section 772.0064,
Government Code, regarding minimum curriculum requirements for
training in the investigation and documentation of cases that
involve sexual assault or other sex offenses.
(b-2) This subsection and Subsection (b-1) expire September
1, 2023.
SECTION 5. The governor is required to implement a
provision of this Act only if the legislature appropriates money
specifically for that purpose. If the legislature does not
appropriate money specifically for that purpose, the governor may,
but is not required to, implement a provision of this Act using
other appropriations available for that purpose.
SECTION 6. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the governor shall establish the Sexual Assault
Survivors' Task Force and the steering committee of that task force
shall appoint members as required by Section 772.0064, Government
Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 7. 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, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1590 was passed by the House on May 7,
2019, by the following vote: Yeas 146, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1590 on May 23, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 0,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1590 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 19, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor