2019S0206-1 02/13/19
By: Menéndez S.B. No. 1543
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing notice of the right to record Department of
Family and Protective Services investigative interviews.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 40.043 to read as follows:
Sec. 40.043. NOTICE REGARDING RECORDING OF INVESTIGATIVE
INTERVIEWS. An investigator who conducts an interview during the
course of a department investigation must provide oral notice to
each interviewee at the beginning of the interview that the
interviewee has the right to record the interview using an audio
recording device. The investigator shall note in the investigation
file that the interviewee was notified under this section.
SECTION 2. 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.