By: Neave, Button, Collier, H.B. No. 2462
González of El Paso, Meyer, et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the reporting of a sexual assault and to the collection
and submission of evidence with respect to that offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 56A, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 56A.2506 to read as
follows:
Art. 56A.2506. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "reported
sexual assault" means a sexual assault that has been reported to a
law enforcement agency.
SECTION 2. Article 56A.251, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to conform to Section 3, Chapter 1037 (H.B. 616), Acts of
the 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, and is further amended
to read as follows:
Art. 56A.251. REQUEST FOR FORENSIC MEDICAL EXAMINATION.
(a) If [Except as provided by Subsection (b), if] a sexual assault
is reported to a law enforcement agency within 120 [96] hours after
the assault, the law enforcement agency, with the consent of the
victim of the reported [alleged] assault, a person authorized to
act on behalf of the victim, or an employee of the Department of
Family and Protective Services, shall request a forensic medical
examination of the victim for use in the investigation or
prosecution of the offense.
(b) If a sexual assault is not reported within the period
described by Subsection (a) and the victim is a minor as defined by
Section 101.003, Family Code, on receiving the consent described by
Subsection (a) or the consent described by Section 32.003 or
32.005, Family Code, a law enforcement agency shall request a
forensic medical examination of the victim for use in the
investigation or prosecution of the offense [A law enforcement
agency may decline to request a forensic medical examination under
Subsection (a) only if:
[(1) the person reporting the sexual assault has made
one or more false reports of sexual assault to any law enforcement
agency; and
[(2) there is no other evidence to corroborate the
current allegations of sexual assault].
(c) If a sexual assault is not reported within the period
described by Subsection (a) and the victim is not a minor as defined
by Section 101.003, Family Code, on receiving the consent described
by Subsection (a), [that subsection] a law enforcement agency may
request a forensic medical examination of a victim of a reported [an
alleged] sexual assault for use in the investigation or prosecution
of the offense if:
(1) based on the circumstances of the reported
assault, the agency believes a forensic medical examination would
further that investigation or prosecution; or
(2) after a medical evaluation by a physician, sexual
assault examiner, or sexual assault nurse examiner, the physician
or examiner notifies the agency that a forensic medical examination
should be conducted [as considered appropriate by the agency].
(d) If a sexual assault is reported to a law enforcement
agency as provided by Subsection (a), (b), or (c), the law
enforcement agency shall document, in the form and manner required
by the attorney general, whether the agency requested a forensic
medical examination. The law enforcement agency shall:
(1) provide the documentation of the agency's decision
regarding a request for a forensic medical examination to:
(A) the health care facility and the physician,
sexual assault examiner, or sexual assault nurse examiner, as
applicable, who provides services to the victim that are related to
the sexual assault; and
(B) the victim or the person who consented to the
forensic medical examination on behalf of the victim; and
(2) maintain the documentation of the agency's
decision in accordance with the agency's record retention policies.
SECTION 3. Article 56A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to conform to Section 4, Chapter 1037 (H.B. 616), Acts of
the 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, and is further amended
to read as follows:
Art. 56A.303. FORENSIC MEDICAL EXAMINATION. (a) In
accordance with Subchapter B, Chapter 420, Government Code, and
except as provided by Subsection (b), a health care facility shall
conduct a forensic medical examination of a victim of a [an alleged]
sexual assault if:
(1) the victim arrives at the facility within 120 [96]
hours after the assault occurred;
(2) the victim consents to the examination; and
(3) at the time of the examination the victim has not
reported the assault to a law enforcement agency.
(b) If a health care facility does not provide diagnosis or
treatment services to victims of sexual assault, the facility shall
refer a victim of a [an alleged] sexual assault who seeks a forensic
medical examination under Subsection (a) to a health care facility
that provides services to those victims.
(c) A victim of a [an alleged] sexual assault may not be
required to participate in the investigation or prosecution of an
offense as a condition of receiving a forensic medical examination
under this article.
SECTION 4. Article 56A.304, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to conform to Sections 4 and 8, Chapter 1037 (H.B. 616),
Acts of the 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, and is further
amended to read as follows:
Art. 56A.304. PAYMENT OF FEES RELATED TO EXAMINATION. (a)
On application to the [The department shall pay the appropriate
fees, as set by] attorney general [rule], a health care facility
that provides [for the forensic portion of] a forensic medical
examination to a sexual assault survivor in accordance with this
subchapter, or the [conducted under Article 56A.303(a) and for the
evidence collection kit if a physician,] sexual assault examiner
[,] or sexual assault nurse examiner who conducts that [the
forensic portion of the] examination, as applicable, within 120
[96] hours after the [alleged] sexual assault occurred is entitled
to be reimbursed in an amount set by attorney general rule for:
(1) the reasonable costs of the forensic portion of
that examination; and
(2) the evidence collection kit.
(b) The application under Subsection (a) must be in the form
and manner prescribed by the attorney general and must include:
(1) certification that the examination was conducted
in accordance with the requirements of Article 56A.303(a); and
(2) a complete and itemized bill of the reasonable
costs of the forensic portion of the examination [attorney general
shall reimburse the department for fees paid under Subsection (a)].
(c) A health care facility or a sexual assault examiner or
sexual assault nurse examiner, as applicable, who applies for
reimbursement under Subsection (a) shall accept reimbursement from
the attorney general as payment for the costs unless:
(1) the health care facility or sexual assault
examiner or sexual assault nurse examiner, as applicable:
(A) requests, in writing, additional
reimbursement from the attorney general; and
(B) provides documentation in support of the
additional reimbursement, as reasonably requested by the attorney
general; and
(2) the attorney general determines that there is a
reasonable justification for additional reimbursement.
(d) A health care facility is not entitled to reimbursement
under this article unless the forensic medical examination was
conducted at the facility by a physician, sexual assault examiner,
or sexual assault nurse examiner.
(e) On request, the attorney general may provide training to
a health care facility regarding the process for applying for
reimbursement under this article.
(f) A victim of a [an alleged] sexual assault may not be
required to pay for:
(1) the forensic portion of the forensic medical
examination; or
(2) the evidence collection kit.
SECTION 5. Article 56A.307, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 56A.307. PROCEDURES FOR SUBMISSION OR COLLECTION OF
ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE. The department, consistent with Chapter 420,
Government Code, may develop procedures regarding the submission or
collection of additional evidence of a [an alleged] sexual assault
other than through a forensic medical examination as described by
Article 56A.303(a).
SECTION 6. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 7. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a sexual assault reported on or after the effective date of this
Act. A sexual assault reported before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the sexual assault
was reported, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.