Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1757 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	By: Krause, Sherman, Sr., Ramos H.B. No. 1757
	1	+	87R19553 MEW-D
	2	+	By: Krause, Sherman, Sr. H.B. No. 1757
	3	+	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1757:
	4	+	By: Tinderholt C.S.H.B. No. 1757
2	5
3	6
4	7		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	8		AN ACT
6	9		relating to recordings of peace officer performance of official
7	10		duties and interactions with the public; creating a criminal
8	11		offense.
9	12		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	13		SECTION 1. Sections 37.09(c) and (d), Penal Code, are
11	14		amended to read as follows:
12	15		(c) An offense under Subsection (a), [or Subsection]
13	16		(d)(1), or (d)(3) is a felony of the third degree, unless the thing
14	17		altered, destroyed, or concealed is a human corpse, in which case
15	18		the offense is a felony of the second degree. An offense under
16	19		Subsection (d)(2) is a Class A misdemeanor.
17	20		(d) A person commits an offense if the person:
18	21		(1) knowing that an offense has been committed,
19	22		alters, destroys, or conceals any record, document, or thing with
20	23		intent to impair its verity, legibility, or availability as
21	24		evidence in any subsequent investigation of or official proceeding
22	25		related to the offense; [or]
23	26		(2) observes a human corpse under circumstances in
24	27		which a reasonable person would believe that an offense had been
25	28		committed, knows or reasonably should know that a law enforcement
26	29		agency is not aware of the existence of or location of the corpse,
27	30		and fails to report the existence of and location of the corpse to a
28	31		law enforcement agency; or
29	32		(3) is a peace officer or other employee of a law
30	33		enforcement agency who alters, destroys, or conceals another
31	34		person's audio, visual, or photographic recording of a peace
32		-	officer's performance of official duties:
33		-	(A) without obtaining that other person's
34		-	written consent; and
35		-	(B) with intent to impair the recording's verity,
36		-	intelligibility, or availability as evidence in any subsequent
37		-	investigation of or official proceeding related to the peace
38		-	officer's performance of official duties.
	35	+	officer's performance of official duties without obtaining that
	36	+	other person's written consent.
39	37		SECTION 2. Section 38.15(c), Penal Code, is amended to read
40	38		as follows:
41	39		(c) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(1)
42	40		that the conduct engaged in by the defendant:
43	41		(1) was intended to warn a person operating a motor
44	42		vehicle of the presence of a peace officer who was enforcing
45	43		Subtitle C, Title 7, Transportation Code; or
46	44		(2) consisted only of filming, recording,
47	45		photographing, documenting, or observing a peace officer, if before
48	46		or while engaging in the conduct, the defendant obeyed any
49	47		reasonable and lawful order by a peace officer to change the
50	48		defendant's proximity or position.
51	49		SECTION 3. Section 542.501, Transportation Code, is amended
52	50		to read as follows:
53	51		Sec. 542.501. OBEDIENCE REQUIRED TO PEACE [POLICE]
54	52		OFFICERS, SCHOOL CROSSING GUARDS, AND ESCORT FLAGGERS. (a) A
55	53		person may not wilfully fail or refuse to comply with a lawful order
56	54		or direction of:
57	55		(1) a peace [police] officer, subject to Subsection
58	56		(b);
59	57		(2) a school crossing guard who:
60	58		(A) is performing crossing guard duties in a
61	59		school crosswalk to stop and yield to a pedestrian; or
62	60		(B) has been trained under Section 600.004 and is
63	61		directing traffic in a school crossing zone; or
64	62		(3) an escort flagger who is directing or controlling
65	63		the flow of traffic in accordance with a permit issued by the Texas
66	64		Department of Motor Vehicles under Subtitle E for the movement of an
67	65		oversize or overweight vehicle.
68	66		(b) Subsection (a)(1) does not apply to an order or
69	67		direction to cease filming, recording, photographing, documenting,
70	68		or observing a peace officer while the officer is engaged in the
71	69		performance of official duties. This subsection does not prohibit a
72	70		peace officer from giving the person a reasonable and lawful order
73	71		or direction to change the person's proximity or position relative
74	72		to a peace officer who is engaged in the performance of official
75	73		duties.
76	74		SECTION 4. Section 37.09, Penal Code, as amended by this
77	75		Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective
78	76		date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of
79	77		this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was
80	78		committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
81	79		purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
82	80		before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
83	81		occurred before that date.
84	82		SECTION 5. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
85	83		section, Section 38.15, Penal Code, and Section 542.501,
86	84		Transportation Code, as amended by this Act, apply to the
87	85		prosecution of an offense under one of those sections commenced
88	86		before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
89	87		(b) A final conviction for an offense under Section 38.15,
90	88		Penal Code, or Section 542.501, Transportation Code, that exists on
91	89		the effective date of this Act is unaffected by this Act.
92	90		SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.