Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3342 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

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1	1	88R7087 SHH-D
2	2	By: Jones of Harris H.B. No. 3342
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to recordings of peace officer performance of official
8	8	duties and interactions with the public; creating a criminal
9	9	offense.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Sections 37.09(c) and (d), Penal Code, are
12	12	amended to read as follows:
13	13	(c) An offense under Subsection (a), [or Subsection]
14	14	(d)(1), or (d)(3) is a felony of the third degree, unless the thing
15	15	altered, destroyed, or concealed is a human corpse, in which case
16	16	the offense is a felony of the second degree. An offense under
17	17	Subsection (d)(2) is a Class A misdemeanor.
18	18	(d) A person commits an offense if the person:
19	19	(1) knowing that an offense has been committed,
20	20	alters, destroys, or conceals any record, document, or thing with
21	21	intent to impair its verity, legibility, or availability as
22	22	evidence in any subsequent investigation of or official proceeding
23	23	related to the offense; [or]
24	24	(2) observes a human corpse under circumstances in
25	25	which a reasonable person would believe that an offense had been
26	26	committed, knows or reasonably should know that a law enforcement
27	27	agency is not aware of the existence of or location of the corpse,
28	28	and fails to report the existence of and location of the corpse to a
29	29	law enforcement agency; or
30	30	(3) is a peace officer or other employee of a law
31	31	enforcement agency who alters, destroys, or conceals another
32	32	person's audio, visual, or photographic recording of a peace
33	33	officer's performance of official duties:
34	34	(A) without obtaining that other person's
35	35	written consent; and
36	36	(B) with intent to impair the recording's verity,
37	37	intelligibility, or availability as evidence in any subsequent
38	38	investigation of or official proceeding related to the peace
39	39	officer's performance of official duties.
40	40	SECTION 2. Section 38.15(c), Penal Code, is amended to read
41	41	as follows:
42	42	(c) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(1)
43	43	that the conduct engaged in by the defendant:
44	44	(1) was intended to warn a person operating a motor
45	45	vehicle of the presence of a peace officer who was enforcing
46	46	Subtitle C, Title 7, Transportation Code; or
47	47	(2) consisted only of filming, recording,
48	48	photographing, documenting, or observing a peace officer, if before
49	49	or while engaging in the conduct, the defendant obeyed any
50	50	reasonable and lawful order by a peace officer to change the
51	51	defendant's proximity or position.
52	52	SECTION 3. Section 542.501, Transportation Code, is amended
53	53	to read as follows:
54	54	Sec. 542.501. OBEDIENCE REQUIRED TO PEACE [POLICE]
55	55	OFFICERS, SCHOOL CROSSING GUARDS, AND ESCORT FLAGGERS. (a) A
56	56	person may not wilfully fail or refuse to comply with a lawful order
57	57	or direction of:
58	58	(1) a peace [police] officer, subject to Subsection
59	59	(b);
60	60	(2) a school crossing guard who:
61	61	(A) is performing crossing guard duties in a
62	62	school crosswalk to stop and yield to a pedestrian; or
63	63	(B) has been trained under Section 600.004 and is
64	64	directing traffic in a school crossing zone; or
65	65	(3) an escort flagger who is directing or controlling
66	66	the flow of traffic in accordance with a permit issued by the Texas
67	67	Department of Motor Vehicles under Subtitle E for the movement of an
68	68	oversize or overweight vehicle.
69	69	(b) Subsection (a)(1) does not apply to an order or
70	70	direction to cease filming, recording, photographing, documenting,
71	71	or observing a peace officer while the officer is engaged in the
72	72	performance of official duties. This subsection does not prohibit a
73	73	peace officer from giving the person a reasonable and lawful order
74	74	or direction to change the person's proximity or position relative
75	75	to a peace officer who is engaged in the performance of official
76	76	duties.
77	77	SECTION 4. Section 37.09, Penal Code, as amended by this
78	78	Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective
79	79	date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of
80	80	this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was
81	81	committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
82	82	purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
83	83	before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
84	84	occurred before that date.
85	85	SECTION 5. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
86	86	section, Section 38.15, Penal Code, and Section 542.501,
87	87	Transportation Code, as amended by this Act, apply to the
88	88	prosecution of an offense under one of those sections commenced
89	89	before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
90	90	(b) A final conviction for an offense under Section 38.15,
91	91	Penal Code, or Section 542.501, Transportation Code, that exists on
92	92	the effective date of this Act is unaffected by this Act.
93	93	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.