86R11847 JSC-F
By: Smith H.B. No. 2421
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the issuance of certain warrants and orders for
searches performed on wireless communications devices and for the
installation and use of certain tracking equipment.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Articles 18.0215(b) and (c), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(b) A warrant under this article may be issued only by a
judge in the same judicial district or county as the site of:
(1) the law enforcement agency that employs the peace
officer, if the cellular telephone or other wireless communications
device is in the officer's possession; or
(2) the likely location of the telephone or device.
(c) A judge may issue a warrant under this article only on
the application of a peace officer. An application must be written
and signed and sworn to or affirmed before the judge. The
application must:
(1) state the name, department, agency, and address of
the applicant;
(2) identify the cellular telephone or other wireless
communications device to be searched;
(3) state the name of the owner or possessor of the
telephone or device to be searched;
(4) state the judicial district or county, as
applicable, in which:
(A) the law enforcement agency that employs the
peace officer is located, if the telephone or device is in the
officer's possession; or
(B) the telephone or device is likely to be
located; and
(5) state the facts and circumstances that provide the
applicant with probable cause to believe that:
(A) criminal activity has been, is, or will be
committed; and
(B) searching the telephone or device is likely
to produce evidence in the investigation of the criminal activity
described in Paragraph (A).
SECTION 2. Article 18B.052, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 18B.052. JURISDICTION. (a) Except as otherwise
provided by Subsection (b), an [An] application under this
subchapter must be filed in a judicial district in which is located:
(1) the site of the proposed installation or use of the
device or equipment;
(2) the site of the communication device on which the
device or equipment is proposed to be installed or used;
(3) the billing, residential, or business address of
the subscriber to the electronic communications service on which
the device or equipment is proposed to be installed or used;
(4) the headquarters of:
(A) the office of the prosecutor filing an
application under this subchapter; or
(B) a law enforcement agency that requests the
prosecutor to file an application under this subchapter or that
proposes to execute an order authorizing installation and use of
the device or equipment; or
(5) the headquarters of a service provider ordered to
install the device or equipment.
(b) If a district judge in the judicial district described
by Subsection (a) is not available, the application may be filed
with a district judge in a judicial district for a county that is
contiguous with a county containing any of the locations specified
by Subsection (a).
SECTION 3. Article 18B.203, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to
read as follows:
(a) As authorized under Subsection (a-1), a [A] district
judge may issue an order for the installation and use of a mobile
tracking device in the same judicial district as the site of:
(1) the investigation; or
(2) the person, vehicle, container, item, or object
the movement of which will be tracked by the device.
(a-1) An order under Subsection (a) may be issued by a
district judge in a judicial district containing a location
specified by that subsection or, if that district judge is not
available, with a district judge in a judicial district for a county
that is contiguous with a county containing any of the locations
specified by Subsection (a).
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an application for a warrant or court order submitted on or after
the effective date of this Act. An application for a warrant or
court order submitted before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the application was
submitted, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.