S.B. No. 476
AN ACT
relating to establishment of county adult sexual assault response
teams.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 351, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter J to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER J. COUNTY ADULT SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE TEAMS
Sec. 351.251. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Adult" means an individual who is not a child as
defined by Section 101.003, Family Code.
(2) "Response team" means a multidisciplinary team
established under this subchapter to strengthen the collaborative
response and enhance health and judicial outcomes for sexual
assault survivors who are adults.
(3) "Sexual assault program" means a program that:
(A) operates independently from a law
enforcement agency or prosecutor's office;
(B) is operated by a local public or private
nonprofit corporation either independently or as part of a
municipal, county, or state agency; and
(C) provides the minimum services, as defined by
Section 420.003, Government Code, to adult survivors of stranger
and non-stranger sexual assault.
(4) "Survivor" means an individual who is a victim of a
sexual assault or other sex offense, regardless of whether a police
report is filed for the incident.
Sec. 351.252. ESTABLISHMENT. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), the commissioners court of each county shall
establish an adult sexual assault response team that includes the
following members appointed by the commissioners court:
(1) the chief administrator, or the chief
administrator's designee, of a sexual assault program that provides
services for the county;
(2) a prosecutor with jurisdiction in the county over
cases involving sexual assault committed against adults;
(3) the chief, or the chief's designee, of the
municipal police department with the largest population in the
county, provided a municipality in the county has a municipal
police department;
(4) the sheriff or the sheriff's designee;
(5) either:
(A) a sexual assault nurse examiner or forensic
examiner from a facility that conducts sexual assault forensic
exams for the county; or
(B) a representative from the largest health care
provider operating in the county if the county does not have a
professional described by Paragraph (A);
(6) a behavioral health services provider operating in
the county or, if the county does not have a behavioral health
services provider, a representative from the county health
department; and
(7) other persons the presiding officer of the
response team considers necessary for the operation of the response
team or as recommended by the response team.
(b) Two or more counties, each with a population of 250,000
or less, within a contiguous area may partner to form a multicounty
response team.
Sec. 351.253. PRESIDING OFFICER. The response team shall
elect a presiding officer from among its members.
Sec. 351.254. MEETINGS. (a) A response team shall meet:
(1) at least quarterly at a time determined by the
presiding officer;
(2) not later than the 90th day after the last day of a
regular legislative session to review and amend as necessary any
protocols, forms, or guidelines developed under this subchapter;
and
(3) at any other time at the call of the presiding
officer.
(b) If a response team member is unable to participate in a
response team meeting, the member or entity the member is
representing may designate another individual to represent the
member or entity at the meeting. Each member or a designee of that
member must participate in all response team meetings.
(c) A response team member must attend the quarterly
meetings held as required under Subsection (a)(1) to participate in
response team functions.
(d) A response team shall meet independently of a children's
advocacy center multidisciplinary team described by Section
264.406, Family Code.
Sec. 351.255. VACANCIES. The commissioners court of a
county shall fill a vacancy for a response team member not later
than the 30th day after the date the vacancy occurs and in the same
manner as the original appointment.
Sec. 351.256. ADULT SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE PROTOCOL. (a)
A response team shall develop a written protocol addressing the
coordinated response for adult survivors in the county that
includes:
(1) the procedures to be used in investigating and
prosecuting cases arising from a report of sexual assault;
(2) interagency information sharing, in accordance
with state and federal law, to ensure the timely exchange of
relevant information and enhance the response to survivors;
(3) the location and accessibility of sexual assault
forensic examinations;
(4) information on the availability of and access to
medical care when the care is clinically indicated;
(5) a requirement to ensure survivors are offered
access to sexual assault program advocates, as defined by Section
420.003, Government Code;
(6) information on the availability of and access to
mental and behavioral health services;
(7) a requirement to ensure that relevant law
enforcement agencies notify survivors in a timely manner regarding
the status of any criminal case and court proceeding;
(8) an assessment of relevant community trends,
including drug-facilitated sexual assault, the incidence of
predatory date rape, and sex trafficking;
(9) a biennial evaluation through sexual assault case
reviews of the effectiveness of individual agency and interagency
protocols and systems;
(10) at least four hours of annual cross-agency
training on the dynamics of sexual assault for response team
members participating in the quarterly meetings as required by
Section 351.254(c); and
(11) procedures for addressing conflicts within the
response team and for maintaining the confidentiality of
information shared among response team members as required by law.
(b) In developing a protocol under this section, the
response team:
(1) shall consider Chapter 56A, Code of Criminal
Procedure;
(2) may provide different procedures for use within a
particular municipality or area of the county served by the
response team; and
(3) shall prioritize the health and safety of
survivors.
(c) The purpose of the protocol developed under this section
is to ensure coordination between all agencies involved in sexual
assault cases to increase the efficacy of response and to minimize
survivor traumatization. The response team shall provide the
protocol to each agency in the county that responds to disclosures
of sexual assault.
(d) Failure to follow a protocol developed under this
section does not:
(1) constitute the basis for a claim or defense to a
civil or criminal action; or
(2) preclude the admissibility of evidence.
Sec. 351.257. REPORT. Not later than December 1 of each
odd-numbered year, a response team shall provide to the
commissioners court of each county the response team serves a
report that includes:
(1) a list of response team members able to
participate in the quarterly meetings required by Section
351.254(c);
(2) a copy of the written protocol developed under
Section 351.256; and
(3) either:
(A) a biennial summary detailing:
(i) the number of sexual assault reports
received by local law enforcement agencies;
(ii) the number of investigations conducted
as a result of those reports;
(iii) the number of indictments presented
in connection with a report and the disposition of those cases; and
(iv) the number of reports of sexual
assault for which no indictment was presented; or
(B) an explanation of the reason the response
team failed to provide the information described by Paragraph (A).
Sec. 351.258. MEETINGS AND RECORDS; CONFIDENTIALITY. (a)
A response team meeting is not subject to Chapter 551, Government
Code.
(b) This section does not prohibit a response team from
requesting or allowing the attendance of a person who is not a
response team member at a response team meeting.
(c) Information and records acquired by a response team in
the exercise of its purpose and duties under this subchapter are
confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
Government Code, and may only be disclosed as necessary to
implement the response team's purpose and duties.
(d) A report or a statistical compilation of data reports
created by the response team is public information subject to
Chapter 552, Government Code, provided the report or compilation
does not contain any personally identifiable information.
(e) Information, documents, and records of the response
team that are confidential under this section are not subject to
subpoena or discovery and may not be introduced into evidence in any
civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding, except that
information, documents, and records otherwise available from other
sources are not immune from subpoena, discovery, or introduction
into evidence solely because that information or those documents or
records were presented during a response team meeting or maintained
by the response team.
(f) A response team may only review a sexual assault case of
an adult survivor with the signed, written consent of the survivor.
The consent must specify:
(1) the information or records covered by the release;
(2) the reason or purpose for the release; and
(3) the person or agency to which the information is to
be released.
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than December 1, 2021, the
commissioners court of each county shall appoint the members to and
call the first meeting of the county's adult sexual assault
response team in accordance with Subchapter J, Chapter 351, Local
Government Code, as added by this Act. At the first meeting of each
adult sexual assault response team, the members of the team shall
appoint the initial presiding officer.
(b) Not later than December 1, 2022, each adult sexual
assault response team shall develop a written protocol as required
by Section 351.256, Local Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 476 passed the Senate on
April 19, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 27, 2021, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 476 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 23, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 121,
Nays 24, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor