88R480 TJB-D
By: Bonnen H.B. No. 3729
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the disclosure under the public information law of
certain evidence of a crime that resulted in the death of a person.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 552.108, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
(d) Notwithstanding other law, a prosecutor may permit a
person to view the following evidence of a crime that resulted in
the death of a person and that occurred in the prosecutor's
jurisdiction:
(1) a medical examiner's report, if the person viewing
the report is a family member of the person who is the subject of the
report and the person who is the subject of the report was a victim
of the crime; and
(2) video evidence of the crime, if the person viewing
the video is a victim of the crime or a family member of a victim of
the crime.
(e) A person permitted to view a medical examiner's report
or video evidence under Subsection (d) may not duplicate, record,
capture, or otherwise memorialize the information. A prosecutor
may require a person to sign a confidentiality agreement before
permitting the person to view the information.
(f) A permitted viewing of a medical examiner's report or
video evidence under Subsection (d) is not a voluntary disclosure
of information for purposes of Section 552.007(b). A governmental
body, by providing information under Subsection (d) that is
confidential or otherwise excepted from required disclosure under
law, does not waive or affect the confidentiality of the
information for purposes of state or federal law or waive the right
to assert exceptions to required disclosure of the information in
the future.
(g) Subsection (d) does not affect:
(1) the right of a person to obtain a medical
examiner's report or video evidence of a crime from a governmental
body under other law;
(2) the procedures under which the information is
obtained under other law; or
(3) the use that may be made of the information
obtained under other law.
(h) In this section:
(1) "Family member" means a person related to a victim
of a crime within the first degree of consanguinity or affinity.
(2) "Medical examiner's report" means a report and the
contents of such a report created by a medical examiner under
Article 49.25, Code of Criminal Procedure, including an autopsy
report and toxicology report. The term does not include a
photograph or medical image contained in a report.
(3) "Victim" means an individual who suffered personal
injury or death as a result of criminal conduct.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
crime that occurred before, on, or after the effective date of this
Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.