Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3729 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R480 TJB-D
2	2	By: Bonnen H.B. No. 3729
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the disclosure under the public information law of
8	8	certain evidence of a crime that resulted in the death of a person.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 552.108, Government Code, is amended by
11	11	adding Subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
12	12	(d) Notwithstanding other law, a prosecutor may permit a
13	13	person to view the following evidence of a crime that resulted in
14	14	the death of a person and that occurred in the prosecutor's
15	15	jurisdiction:
16	16	(1) a medical examiner's report, if the person viewing
17	17	the report is a family member of the person who is the subject of the
18	18	report and the person who is the subject of the report was a victim
19	19	of the crime; and
20	20	(2) video evidence of the crime, if the person viewing
21	21	the video is a victim of the crime or a family member of a victim of
22	22	the crime.
23	23	(e) A person permitted to view a medical examiner's report
24	24	or video evidence under Subsection (d) may not duplicate, record,
25	25	capture, or otherwise memorialize the information. A prosecutor
26	26	may require a person to sign a confidentiality agreement before
27	27	permitting the person to view the information.
28	28	(f) A permitted viewing of a medical examiner's report or
29	29	video evidence under Subsection (d) is not a voluntary disclosure
30	30	of information for purposes of Section 552.007(b). A governmental
31	31	body, by providing information under Subsection (d) that is
32	32	confidential or otherwise excepted from required disclosure under
33	33	law, does not waive or affect the confidentiality of the
34	34	information for purposes of state or federal law or waive the right
35	35	to assert exceptions to required disclosure of the information in
36	36	the future.
37	37	(g) Subsection (d) does not affect:
38	38	(1) the right of a person to obtain a medical
39	39	examiner's report or video evidence of a crime from a governmental
40	40	body under other law;
41	41	(2) the procedures under which the information is
42	42	obtained under other law; or
43	43	(3) the use that may be made of the information
44	44	obtained under other law.
45	45	(h) In this section:
46	46	(1) "Family member" means a person related to a victim
47	47	of a crime within the first degree of consanguinity or affinity.
48	48	(2) "Medical examiner's report" means a report and the
49	49	contents of such a report created by a medical examiner under
50	50	Article 49.25, Code of Criminal Procedure, including an autopsy
51	51	report and toxicology report. The term does not include a
52	52	photograph or medical image contained in a report.
53	53	(3) "Victim" means an individual who suffered personal
54	54	injury or death as a result of criminal conduct.
55	55	SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
56	56	crime that occurred before, on, or after the effective date of this
57	57	Act.
58	58	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
59	59	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
60	60	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
61	61	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
62	62	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.