Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB380 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R3412 JCG-D
2	2	By: West S.B. No. 380
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses
8	8	and to certain recordings created by peace officers during an
9	9	investigation or other law enforcement activity; creating a
10	10	criminal offense.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. (a) This Act shall be known as the "Botham Jean
13	13	Act."
14	14	(b) Sections 6 and 7 of this Act shall be known as "Bo's
15	15	Law."
16	16	SECTION 2. Sections 1701.655(b) and (c), Occupations Code,
17	17	are amended to read as follows:
18	18	(b) A policy described by Subsection (a) must ensure that a
19	19	body worn camera is activated only for a law enforcement purpose and
20	20	must include:
21	21	(1) guidelines for when a peace officer should
22	22	activate a camera or discontinue a recording currently in progress,
23	23	considering the need for privacy in certain situations and at
24	24	certain locations;
25	25	(2) provisions relating to data retention, including a
26	26	provision requiring the retention of video for a minimum period of
27	27	90 days;
28	28	(3) provisions relating to storage of video and audio,
29	29	creation of backup copies of the video and audio, and maintenance of
30	30	data security;
31	31	(4) provisions relating to the collection of a body
32	32	worn camera, including the applicable video and audio recorded by
33	33	the camera, as evidence;
34	34	(5) guidelines for public access, through open records
35	35	requests, to recordings that are public information;
36	36	(6) [(5)] provisions entitling an officer to access
37	37	any recording of an incident involving the officer before the
38	38	officer is required to make a statement about the incident;
39	39	(7) [(6)] procedures for supervisory or internal
40	40	review; and
41	41	(8) [(7)] the handling and documenting of equipment
42	42	and malfunctions of equipment.
43	43	(c) A policy described by Subsection (a) must [may not]
44	44	require a peace officer who participates in an investigation, as
45	45	defined by Section 38.20, Penal Code, to keep a body worn camera
46	46	activated for the entirety of the investigation unless the camera
47	47	has been collected as evidence by another peace officer in
48	48	accordance with:
49	49	(1) the policy described by Subsection (a) and any
50	50	other policy adopted by the law enforcement agency regarding the
51	51	collection of evidence; and
52	52	(2) applicable law [entire period of the officer's
53	53	shift].
54	54	SECTION 3. Section 1701.657(b), Occupations Code, is
55	55	amended to read as follows:
56	56	(b) Subject to Section 1701.655(c), a [A] peace officer
57	57	equipped with a body worn camera may choose not to activate a camera
58	58	or may choose to discontinue a recording currently in progress for
59	59	any nonconfrontational encounter with a person[, including an
60	60	interview of a witness or victim].
61	61	SECTION 4. Section 1701.661(h), Occupations Code, is
62	62	amended to read as follows:
63	63	(h) A recording is confidential and excepted from the
64	64	requirements of Chapter 552, Government Code, if:
65	65	(1) the recording:
66	66	(A) [(1)] was not required to be made under this
67	67	subchapter or another law or under a policy adopted by the
68	68	appropriate law enforcement agency; and
69	69	(B) [(2)] does not relate to a law enforcement
70	70	purpose;
71	71	(2) the recording documents a crime victim expressing
72	72	a clear and unambiguous desire to not:
73	73	(A) be recorded; or
74	74	(B) allow the recording to be available to the
75	75	public;
76	76	(3) the recording documents a person providing
77	77	assistance to a law enforcement investigation and expressing a
78	78	clear and unambiguous desire to:
79	79	(A) not be recorded; or
80	80	(B) provide the assistance in an anonymous
81	81	manner;
82	82	(4) the recording documents a child younger than 17
83	83	years of age; or
84	84	(5) the recording was made:
85	85	(A) on the grounds of any public or private
86	86	primary or secondary school; or
87	87	(B) inside a home by a peace officer who entered
88	88	the home without at least one of the following:
89	89	(i) a warrant;
90	90	(ii) consent; or
91	91	(iii) accompanying exigent circumstances
92	92	that would by law authorize the officer to enter the home without a
93	93	warrant.
94	94	SECTION 5. Section 8.02, Penal Code, is amended by amending
95	95	Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
96	96	(a) It is a defense to prosecution that the actor through
97	97	mistake formed a reasonable belief about a matter of fact if his
98	98	mistaken belief negated the culpable mental state [kind of
99	99	culpability] required for commission of the offense.
100	100	(c) The defense provided by this section does not apply to
101	101	an actor's belief that is required to raise any other defense or
102	102	affirmative defense.
103	103	SECTION 6. Section 9.31(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
104	104	as follows:
105	105	(a) Except as provided in Subsection (b), a person is
106	106	justified in using force against another when and to the degree the
107	107	actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to
108	108	protect the actor against the other's use or attempted use of
109	109	unlawful force. The actor's belief that the force was immediately
110	110	necessary as described by this subsection is presumed to be
111	111	reasonable if:
112	112	(1) the actor:
113	113	(A) was physically present in the actor's own
114	114	habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment at the time
115	115	the force was used and the actor [(1)] knew or had reason to believe
116	116	that the person against whom the force was used:
117	117	(i) [(A)] unlawfully and with force
118	118	entered, or was attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the
119	119	actor's occupied habitation, vehicle, or place of business or
120	120	employment; or
121	121	(ii) [(B)] unlawfully and with force
122	122	removed, or was attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the
123	123	actor from the actor's habitation, vehicle, or place of business or
124	124	employment; or
125	125	(B) knew or had reason to believe that the person
126	126	against whom the force was used [(C)] was committing or attempting
127	127	to commit aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault,
128	128	aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery;
129	129	(2) the actor did not provoke the person against whom
130	130	the force was used; and
131	131	(3) the actor was not otherwise engaged in criminal
132	132	activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a
133	133	law or ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used.
134	134	SECTION 7. Section 9.32(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
135	135	as follows:
136	136	(b) The actor's belief under Subsection (a)(2) that the
137	137	deadly force was immediately necessary as described by that
138	138	subdivision is presumed to be reasonable if:
139	139	(1) the actor:
140	140	(A) was physically present in the actor's own
141	141	habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment at the time
142	142	the deadly force was used and the actor [(1)] knew or had reason to
143	143	believe that the person against whom the deadly force was used:
144	144	(i) [(A)] unlawfully and with force
145	145	entered, or was attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the
146	146	actor's occupied habitation, vehicle, or place of business or
147	147	employment; or
148	148	(ii) [(B)] unlawfully and with force
149	149	removed, or was attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the
150	150	actor from the actor's habitation, vehicle, or place of business or
151	151	employment; or
152	152	(B) knew or had reason to believe that the person
153	153	against whom the deadly force was used [(C)] was committing or
154	154	attempting to commit an offense described by Subsection (a)(2)(B);
155	155	(2) the actor did not provoke the person against whom
156	156	the deadly force was used; and
157	157	(3) the actor was not otherwise engaged in criminal
158	158	activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a
159	159	law or ordinance regulating traffic at the time the deadly force was
160	160	used.
161	161	SECTION 8. Chapter 38, Penal Code, is amended by adding
162	162	Section 38.20 to read as follows:
163	163	Sec. 38.20. DEACTIVATION OF RECORDING DEVICE. (a) In this
164	164	section:
165	165	(1) "Recording device" includes any video or audio
166	166	equipment in a vehicle used by a peace officer for a law enforcement
167	167	purpose, a body worn camera as defined by Section 1701.651,
168	168	Occupations Code, and an alarm system as defined by Section
169	169	1702.002, Occupations Code.
170	170	(2) "Investigation" means an inquiry conducted by a
171	171	law enforcement agency to determine whether:
172	172	(A) a person has committed an offense, regardless
173	173	of whether a person is arrested or detained in connection with the
174	174	inquiry; or
175	175	(B) an employee of a law enforcement agency has
176	176	violated a policy, order, rule, or other regulation of the law
177	177	enforcement agency.
178	178	(3) "Law enforcement agency" means an agency of the
179	179	state or a political subdivision of the state authorized by law to
180	180	employ peace officers.
181	181	(b) A person commits an offense if the person knows that an
182	182	investigation is ongoing and intentionally or knowingly
183	183	deactivates, orders the deactivation of, or causes to be
184	184	deactivated a recording device being used in the investigation.
185	185	(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
186	186	degree.
187	187	(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
188	188	section that:
189	189	(1) the recording device was a body worn camera;
190	190	(2) the actor is a peace officer, other than the peace
191	191	officer to whom the body worn camera was issued; and
192	192	(3) the actor deactivated the body worn camera in
193	193	accordance with:
194	194	(A) any policy adopted by the employing law
195	195	enforcement agency regarding the collection of evidence; and
196	196	(B) applicable law.
197	197	(e) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
198	198	section that:
199	199	(1) the actor is not a peace officer; and
200	200	(2) the actor deactivated the recording device at the
201	201	request or command of a peace officer who made the request or
202	202	command in accordance with:
203	203	(A) any policy adopted by the employing law
204	204	enforcement agency regarding the collection of evidence; and
205	205	(B) applicable law.
206	206	SECTION 9. Sections 8.02, 9.31, and 9.32, Penal Code, as
207	207	amended by this Act, apply only to an offense committed on or after
208	208	the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the
209	209	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
210	210	offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for
211	211	that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was
212	212	committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of
213	213	the offense occurred before that date.
214	214	SECTION 10. Section 1701.661(h), Occupations Code, as
215	215	amended by this Act:
216	216	(1) applies to a recording described by that section,
217	217	regardless of the date the recording is created; and
218	218	(2) applies only to a request for information that is
219	219	received by a governmental body or an officer for public
220	220	information on or after the effective date of this Act.
221	221	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.