2019S0395-1 03/08/19
By: Schwertner S.B. No. 2213
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operations of the Texas Crime Stoppers Council and
crime stoppers organizations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 414.001, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (2) and adding Subdivisions (3), (4), and (5)
to read as follows:
(2) "Crime stoppers organization" means:
(A) a private, nonprofit organization that is
operated on a local or statewide level, that accepts [and expends]
donations and expends funds for rewards to persons who report to the
organization public safety tips [information about criminal
activity] and that forwards the information to the appropriate law
enforcement agency, school district, or open-enrollment charter
school; or
(B) a public organization that is operated on a
local or statewide level, that pays rewards to persons who report to
the organization public safety tips [information about criminal
activity], and that forwards the information to the appropriate law
enforcement agency, school district, or open-enrollment charter
school.
(3) "Open-enrollment charter school" means a school
that has been granted a charter under Subchapter D, Chapter 12,
Education Code.
(4) "School district" means a public school district
created under the laws of this state.
(5) "Public safety tip" means a report submitted to
the council, a crime stoppers organization, or a person accepting
the information on behalf of the council or crime stoppers
organization regarding criminal activity, conduct or threatened
conduct that constitutes a danger to public safety or an
individual, conduct or threatened conduct that would disrupt the
efficient and effective operations of a school district or
open-enrollment charter school, or other activity of interest to
law enforcement agencies, school districts, or open-enrollment
charter schools, including truancy and school rule violations.
SECTION 2. Section 414.005, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 414.005. DUTIES. The council shall:
(1) encourage, advise, and assist in the creation of
crime stoppers organizations;
(2) foster the detection of crime and encourage
persons to report public safety tips [information about criminal
acts];
(3) encourage news and other media to [broadcast
reenactments and to] inform the public of the functions of crime
stoppers organizations' operations and programs;
(4) promote the process of crime stoppers
organizations to forward public safety tips [information about
criminal acts] to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, school
districts, and open-enrollment charter schools;
(5) help law enforcement agencies detect and combat
crime by increasing the flow of information to and between law
enforcement agencies;
(6) create specialized programs targeted at detecting
specific crimes or types of crimes identified as priorities by the
council, including at least one program that:
(A) encourages individuals to report sex
offenders who have failed to register under Chapter 62, Code of
Criminal Procedure;
(B) encourages individuals to report criminal
activity relating to the trafficking of persons, as described under
Chapter 20A, Penal Code; and
(C) financially rewards each individual who
makes a report described by Paragraph (A) or (B) that leads or
substantially contributes to the arrest or apprehension:
(i) of a sex offender who has failed to
register under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure; or
(ii) of a person suspected of engaging in
conduct that constitutes an offense under Chapter 20A, Penal Code;
[and]
(7) encourage, advise, and assist crime stoppers
organizations in implementing any programs created under
Subdivision (6), including a program specifically described by
Subdivision (6); and
(8) encourage, advise, and assist in the creation of
campus-based crime stoppers organizations to address criminal
activity, conduct or threatened conduct that constitutes a danger
to public safety or an individual, conduct or threatened conduct
that would disrupt the efficient and effective operations of a
school district or open-enrollment charter school, or other
activity of interest to law enforcement agencies, school districts,
or open-enrollment charter schools, including truancy and school
rule violations.
SECTION 3. Section 414.007, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 414.007. CONFIDENTIALITY OF CRIME STOPPERS [COUNCIL]
RECORDS. A record of the council, a crime stoppers organization, a
law enforcement agency, a school district, or an open-enrollment
charter school relating to a public safety tip, including the
identity of the person who made the report, is [Council records
relating to reports of criminal acts are] confidential and is not
subject to disclosure under Chapter 552.
SECTION 4. Sections 414.008(a), (b), and (e), Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, evidence
of a public safety tip [a communication between a person submitting
a report of a criminal act to the council or a crime stoppers
organization and the person who accepted the report on behalf of the
council or organization] is not admissible in a court or an
administrative proceeding.
(b) A record [Records] of the council, [or] a crime stoppers
organization, a law enforcement agency, a school district, or an
open-enrollment charter school concerning a public safety tip [a
report of criminal activity] may not be compelled to be produced
before a court or other tribunal except on a motion:
(1) filed in a criminal trial court by a defendant who
alleges that the record [records] or report contains evidence that
is exculpatory to the defendant in the trial of that offense; or
(2) filed in a civil case by a plaintiff who alleges
that denial of access to the record [the records] concerning the
public safety tip [report of criminal activity] abrogates any part
of a cognizable common law cause of action, if the plaintiff
alleging abrogation:
(A) was charged with or convicted of a criminal
offense based at least partially on the report and the charges were
dismissed, the plaintiff was acquitted, or the conviction was
overturned, as applicable; and
(B) in the motion establishes a prima facie case
that the plaintiff's abrogated claim is based on injuries from the
criminal charge or conviction caused by the wrongful acts of
another performed in connection with the report.
(e) The court shall return to the council, [or] crime
stoppers organization, law enforcement agency, school district, or
open-enrollment charter school the materials that are produced
under this section but not disclosed to the movant. The council,
[or] crime stoppers organization, law enforcement agency, school
district, or open-enrollment charter school shall store the
materials at least until the first anniversary of the following
appropriate date:
(1) the date of expiration of the time for all direct
appeals in a criminal case; or
(2) the date a plaintiff's right to appeal in a civil
case is exhausted.
SECTION 5. Section 414.009(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A person who is a member or employee of the council, a
crime stoppers organization, a law enforcement agency, a school
district, or an open-enrollment charter school, or who receives a
public safety tip from or [who accepts a report of criminal
activity] on behalf of the council or a crime stoppers
organization, commits an offense if the person intentionally or
knowingly discloses [divulges] to a person not a member of or
employed by the council, a crime stoppers organization, a law
enforcement agency, a school district, or an open-enrollment
charter school the [content of a report of a criminal act or the]
identity of a [the] person who made a public safety tip or the
content of a public safety tip [the report] without the consent of
the person who made the report, unless:
(1) the person disclosing the information has received
authorization from the chief executive of the originating crime
stoppers organization, who has reasonably determined that failing
to disclose the identity of a person who made the report creates a
probability of imminent physical injury to another; or
(2) the disclosure is otherwise required by law or
court order.
SECTION 6. Sections 414.010(a) and (d), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a crime stoppers
organization certified by the council to receive money in the form
of payments from defendants placed on community supervision under
Chapter 42A, Code of Criminal Procedure, or money in the form of
repayments of rewards under Articles 37.073 and 42.152, Code of
Criminal Procedure, may transfer [use] not more than 20 percent of
the money [annually] received during each calendar year to accounts
used to pay costs incurred in administering the organization and
shall use the remainder of the money, including any interest earned
on the money, only for the payment of rewards to [reward] persons
who report public safety tips [information concerning criminal
activity]. Not later than January 31 of each year, a crime stoppers
organization that receives or expends money under this section
shall file a detailed report with the council.
(d) If the amount of funds accumulated [received] by a crime
stoppers organization under this section exceeds [three times] the
total amount of [funds that the organization uses to pay] rewards
paid by the organization during [a fiscal year based on the average
amount of funds used to pay rewards during each of] the preceding
three fiscal years, the organization may deposit the excess amount
of funds in a separate [interest-bearing] account to be used by the
organization for crime solving and crime prevention [law
enforcement] purposes of the organization [relating to crime
stoppers or juvenile justice], including intervention,
apprehension, and adjudication. An organization that deposits
excess funds in an account as provided by this subsection may use
any interest earned on the funds to pay costs incurred in
administering the organization.
SECTION 7. Section 414.012, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 414.012. STATEWIDE CRIME REPORTING SYSTEMS. The
council shall establish a free statewide telephone service and
other appropriate systems to allow public safety tips [information
about criminal acts] to be reported to the council and shall make
the telephone service and other reporting systems accessible at all
times to persons residing in areas of the state not served by a
crime stoppers organization. The council shall forward any [the]
information it receives [received] to appropriate law enforcement
agencies or crime stoppers organization.
SECTION 8. Section 414.013, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 414.013. IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY. (a) A person
who communicates to the council or a crime stoppers organization a
public safety tip [a report of criminal activity that leads to the
arrest of, the filing of charges against, or the conviction of a
person for a criminal offense] is immune from civil liability for
damages resulting from the communication unless the communication
was intentionally, wilfully, or wantonly negligent or done with
conscious indifference or reckless disregard for the safety of
others.
(b) A person who in the course and scope of the person's
duties or functions receives, forwards, or acts on a public safety
tip [a report of criminal activity] communicated to the council or a
crime stoppers organization is immune from civil liability for
damages resulting from an act or omission in the performance of the
person's duties or functions unless the act or omission was
intentionally, wilfully, or wantonly negligent or done with
conscious indifference or reckless disregard for the safety of
others.
SECTION 9. Section 351.901(a), Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivisions (3) and
(4) to read as follows:
(1) "Crime stoppers organization" means a private,
nonprofit organization or a public organization that:
(A) is operated on a local or statewide level;
(B) accepts [and expends] donations and expends
funds for rewards to persons who report to the organization
information about criminal activity, conduct or threatened conduct
that constitutes a danger to public safety or an individual,
conduct or threatened conduct that would disrupt the efficient and
effective operations of a school district or open-enrollment
charter school, or other activity of interest to law enforcement
agencies, school districts, or open-enrollment charter schools,
including truancy and school rule violations; and
(C) forwards the information to the appropriate
law enforcement agency, school district, or open-enrollment
charter school.
(3) "Open-enrollment charter school" means a school
that has been granted a charter under Subchapter D, Chapter 12,
Education Code.
(4) "School district" means a public school district
created under the laws of this state.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.