Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1758 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	H.B. No. 1758
	1	+	By: Krause (Senate Sponsor - Birdwell) H.B. No. 1758
	2	+	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 3, 2021;
	3	+	May 14, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on
	4	+	Jurisprudence; May 21, 2021, reported favorably by the following
	5	+	vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 21, 2021, sent to printer.)
	6	+	Click here to see the committee vote
2	7
3	8
	9	+	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
4	10		AN ACT
5	11		relating to law enforcement's use of force by means of a drone.
6	12		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
7	13		SECTION 1. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
8	14		amended by adding Article 2.33 to read as follows:
9	15		Art. 2.33. LAW ENFORCEMENT POLICY ON USE OF FORCE BY DRONE.
10	16		(a) In this article:
11	17		(1) "Drone" means an unmanned aircraft, watercraft, or
12	18		ground vehicle or a robotic device that:
13	19		(A) is controlled remotely by a human operator;
14	20		or
15	21		(B) operates autonomously through computer
16	22		software or other programming.
17	23		(2) "Law enforcement agency" means an agency of the
18	24		state or an agency of a political subdivision of the state
19	25		authorized by law to employ peace officers.
20		-	(b) Each law enforcement agency that uses or intends to use
21		-	a drone for law enforcement purposes shall:
	26	+	(b) Each law enforcement agency shall:
22	27		(1) adopt a written policy regarding the agency's use
23		-	of force by means of a drone, before the agency first uses a drone,
24		-	and update the policy as necessary; and
	28	+	of force by means of a drone and update the policy as necessary; and
25	29		(2) not later than January 1 of each even-numbered
26	30		year, submit the policy to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement
27	31		in the manner prescribed by the commission.
28	32		SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 9, Penal Code, is amended
29	33		by adding Section 9.54 to read as follows:
30	34		Sec. 9.54. LIMITATION ON USE OF FORCE BY DRONE. (a) In this
31	35		section:
32	36		(1) "Autonomous drone" means a drone that operates
33	37		autonomously through computer software or other programming.
34	38		(2) "Drone" and "law enforcement agency" have the
35	39		meanings assigned by Article 2.33, Code of Criminal Procedure.
36	40		(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the use of force,
37	41		including deadly force, involving a drone is justified under this
38	42		subchapter only if:
39	43		(1) at the time the use of force occurred, the actor
40	44		was employed by a law enforcement agency;
41	45		(2) the use of force:
42	46		(A) would have been justified under another
43	47		provision of this subchapter; and
44	48		(B) did not involve the use of deadly force by
45	49		means of an autonomous drone; and
46	50		(3) before the use of force occurred, the law
47	51		enforcement agency employing the actor adopted and submitted to the
48	52		Texas Commission on Law Enforcement a policy on the agency's use of
49	53		force by means of a drone, as required by Article 2.33, Code of
50	54		Criminal Procedure, and the use of force conformed to the
51	55		requirements of that policy.
52	56		SECTION 3. Not later than January 1, 2022, each law
53		-	enforcement agency in this state that uses or intends to use a
54		-	drone, as defined by Article 2.33, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
55		-	added by this Act, for law enforcement purposes shall:
	57	+	enforcement agency in this state shall:
56	58		(1) adopt the policy required by Article 2.33, Code of
57	59		Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act; and
58	60		(2) submit the policy to the Texas Commission on Law
59	61		Enforcement as required by that article.
60	62		SECTION 4. Section 9.54, Penal Code, as added by this Act,
61	63		applies only to an offense committed on or after January 1, 2022.
62	64		An offense committed before January 1, 2022, is governed by the law
63	65		in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law
64	66		is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
65	67		section, an offense was committed before January 1, 2022, if any
66	68		element of the offense occurred before that date.
67	69		SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
68		-	______________________________ ______________________________
69		-	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
70		-	I certify that H.B. No. 1758 was passed by the House on April
71		-	30, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 125, Nays 1, 1 present, not
72		-	voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
73		-	H.B. No. 1758 on May 28, 2021, and requested the appointment of a
74		-	conference committee to consider the differences between the two
75		-	houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
76		-	on H.B. No. 1758 on May 30, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 103,
77		-	Nays 40, 1 present, not voting.
78		-	______________________________
79		-	Chief Clerk of the House
80		-	I certify that H.B. No. 1758 was passed by the Senate, with
81		-	amendments, on May 24, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays
82		-	2; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
83		-	committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
84		-	that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
85		-	1758 on May 30, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays 5.
86		-	______________________________
87		-	Secretary of the Senate
88		-	APPROVED: __________________
89		-	Date
90		-	__________________
91		-	Governor
	70	+	* * * * *