Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB972 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R9171 MCK-D
2	2	By: West S.B. No. 972
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to access to certain law enforcement, corrections, and
8	8	prosecutorial records under the public information law.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
11	11	amended by adding Article 2.13952 to read as follows:
12	12	Art. 2.13952. PUBLIC DATABASE. The office of the attorney
13	13	general shall establish and maintain on its Internet website a
14	14	publicly accessible database of reports submitted to the office
15	15	under Articles 2.139 and 2.1395.
16	16	SECTION 2. Section 411.00755(b), Government Code, is
17	17	amended to read as follows:
18	18	(b) The personnel records of a commissioned officer of the
19	19	department may not be disclosed or otherwise made available to the
20	20	public, except the department shall release in accordance with
21	21	Chapter 552:
22	22	(1) any letter, memorandum, or document relating to:
23	23	(A) a commendation, congratulation, or honor
24	24	bestowed on the officer for an action, duty, or activity that
25	25	relates to the officer's official duties; and
26	26	(B) misconduct by the officer, if the letter,
27	27	memorandum, or document resulted in disciplinary action;
28	28	(2) the state application for employment submitted by
29	29	the officer, but not including any attachments to the application;
30	30	(3) any reference letter submitted by the officer;
31	31	(4) any letter of recommendation for the officer;
32	32	(5) any employment contract with the officer;
33	33	(6) any periodic evaluation of the officer by a
34	34	supervisor;
35	35	(7) any document recording a promotion or demotion of
36	36	the officer;
37	37	(8) any request for leave by the officer;
38	38	(9) any request by the officer for transfers of shift
39	39	or duty assignments;
40	40	(10) any documents presented to the commission in
41	41	connection with a public hearing under Section 411.007(f);
42	42	(11) the officer's:
43	43	(A) name;
44	44	(B) age;
45	45	(C) dates of employment;
46	46	(D) positions held; and
47	47	(E) gross salary; [and]
48	48	(12) information about the location of the officer's
49	49	department duty assignments;
50	50	(13) a force report, incident report, extraordinary
51	51	occurrence report, emergency action report, Taser use report, or
52	52	any other report made by the officer concerning the use of force or
53	53	firearms by the officer or witnessed by the officer, and any log or
54	54	database tracking or compiling those reports by one or more
55	55	officers regardless of whether the officer making the report is
56	56	identified; and
57	57	(14) a fleet occurrence report or any other report
58	58	made by an officer concerning physical or property damage caused by
59	59	a department vehicle, and any log or database tracking or compiling
60	60	those incidents or reports.
61	61	SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
62	62	amended by adding Section 552.030 to read as follows:
63	63	Sec. 552.030. RIGHT OF ACCESS TO VIDEO RECORDINGS OF
64	64	CRITICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT INCIDENTS. (a) In this section,
65	65	"critical incident":
66	66	(1) includes:
67	67	(A) an officer-involved shooting, including an
68	68	unintentional discharge of a firearm while in the course of duty or
69	69	in response to a call, regardless of whether:
70	70	(i) a person is hit by gunfire; or
71	71	(ii) an allegation of misconduct is made;
72	72	(B) use of force resulting in death or serious
73	73	bodily injury as defined by Section 1.07, Penal Code;
74	74	(C) the death of an arrestee or detainee while
75	75	the person is in the custodial care of a law enforcement agency; and
76	76	(D) any other police encounter in which a law
77	77	enforcement agency determines release of a video recording furthers
78	78	a law enforcement purpose; and
79	79	(2) does not include:
80	80	(A) an officer-involved shooting of an animal;
81	81	(B) an unintentional discharge of a firearm
82	82	during a pre-shift equipment check; or
83	83	(C) the discharge of a firearm during training or
84	84	qualifications on a firing range.
85	85	(b) Not later than the 60th day after the date a critical
86	86	incident occurs, a law enforcement agency shall make public any
87	87	video recording in the agency's possession involving the critical
88	88	incident.
89	89	(c) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, a law
90	90	enforcement agency shall, not later than the 60th day after the date
91	91	a critical incident occurs, begin providing copies of a video
92	92	recording of the critical incident to persons who request a copy.
93	93	If the law enforcement agency determines the video recording cannot
94	94	be released as required by this subsection, the agency shall, not
95	95	later than the 45th day after the date the critical incident occurs,
96	96	begin notifying persons who request a copy of the video recording of
97	97	the reasons for the agency's decision and providing an explanation
98	98	as to when the agency will make copies of the video recording
99	99	available to requestors.
100	100	(d) Section 552.108 does not apply to a video recording of a
101	101	critical incident in a law enforcement agency's possession.
102	102	(e) The video recordings to which Subsections (b) and (c)
103	103	apply include body worn camera video recordings, digital in-car
104	104	video recordings, other video recordings captured by a law
105	105	enforcement agency, and video recordings captured by a third party
106	106	that are in a law enforcement agency's possession.
107	107	(f) A law enforcement agency may withhold a video recording
108	108	of a critical incident if the agency is prohibited from releasing
109	109	the recording by law or a court order. The agency may redact or edit
110	110	the video recording to protect juveniles and victims of certain
111	111	crimes or to protect the privacy interests of other individuals who
112	112	appear in the recording. The agency may not redact or edit a video
113	113	recording in a manner that compromises the depiction of what
114	114	occurred during the critical incident, including the officers
115	115	involved in the incident.
116	116	(g) A law enforcement agency may delay the release of a
117	117	video recording of a critical incident to protect:
118	118	(1) the safety of the individuals involved in the
119	119	critical incident, including officers, witnesses, bystanders, or
120	120	other third parties;
121	121	(2) the integrity of an active criminal or
122	122	administrative investigation or a criminal prosecution;
123	123	(3) confidential sources or investigative techniques;
124	124	or
125	125	(4) the constitutional rights of an accused.
126	126	(h) If a law enforcement agency determines that Subsection
127	127	(g) applies to a video recording of a critical incident, the agency
128	128	shall:
129	129	(1) not later than the 45th day after the date the
130	130	critical incident occurs, begin notifying persons who request a
131	131	copy of the recording of the specific, factual reasons for the
132	132	delay; and
133	133	(2) update persons who request a copy of the recording
134	134	every 15 days regarding the continuing justification for the delay
135	135	until the copies are released.
136	136	(i) Not later than 48 hours before the time a law
137	137	enforcement agency releases a video recording of a critical
138	138	incident, the agency shall make a reasonable attempt to notify and
139	139	consult with:
140	140	(1) the officers depicted in the recording or
141	141	significantly involved in the use of force;
142	142	(2) the individual upon whom force was used or the
143	143	individual's:
144	144	(A) next of kin if the individual is deceased;
145	145	(B) parent or legal guardian if the individual is
146	146	a juvenile; or
147	147	(C) legal counsel if the individual is
148	148	represented by legal counsel;
149	149	(3) the district attorney's office, county attorney's
150	150	office, or city attorney's office that has jurisdiction over the
151	151	critical incident depicted in the video; and
152	152	(4) any other individual or entity connected to the
153	153	critical incident the law enforcement agency deems appropriate.
154	154	SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply to
155	155	information produced or maintained before, on, or after the
156	156	effective date of this Act.
157	157	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.