Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB218 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R1502 JCG-F
2	2	By: Eckhardt S.B. No. 218
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the grounds for disciplinary action against peace
8	8	officers and the use of body worn cameras by peace officers.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter K, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 1701.5015 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 1701.5015. CERTAIN GROUNDS FOR DISCIPLINE OF PEACE
13	13	OFFICER. (a) The commission by rule shall establish grounds under
14	14	which the commission shall suspend or revoke a peace officer
15	15	license on a determination by the commission that the license
16	16	holder's continued performance of duties as a peace officer
17	17	constitutes a threat to the public welfare.
18	18	(b) The grounds under Subsection (a) must include:
19	19	(1) lack of competence in performing the license
20	20	holder's duties as a peace officer;
21	21	(2) illegal drug use or an addiction that
22	22	substantially impairs the license holder's ability to perform the
23	23	license holder's duties as a peace officer;
24	24	(3) lack of truthfulness in court proceedings or other
25	25	governmental operations, including:
26	26	(A) making a false statement in an offense report
27	27	or other report as part of an investigation, unless the false
28	28	statement is recanted not later than the 10th day after the date the
29	29	false statement is made;
30	30	(B) making a false statement to obtain employment
31	31	as a peace officer;
32	32	(C) making a false entry in court records or
33	33	tampering with evidence, including:
34	34	(i) damaging, disabling, or obstructing the
35	35	video or audio capabilities of or otherwise impairing the
36	36	functionality of a body worn camera, as defined by Section
37	37	1701.651; or
38	38	(ii) damaging, deleting, or failing to
39	39	properly store or maintain any portion of the video or audio from a
40	40	recording made by the camera; or
41	41	(D) engaging in conduct designed to impair the
42	42	results or procedure of an examination or testing process
43	43	associated with obtaining employment as a peace officer or a
44	44	promotion to a higher rank;
45	45	(4) failure to follow the directives of a supervising
46	46	officer or to follow the policies of the employing law enforcement
47	47	agency;
48	48	(5) discriminatory conduct, including engaging in a
49	49	course of conduct or a single egregious act, based on the race,
50	50	color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability,
51	51	or sexual orientation of another that would cause a reasonable
52	52	person to believe that the license holder is unable to perform the
53	53	license holder's duties as a peace officer in a fair manner; or
54	54	(6) conduct indicating a pattern of:
55	55	(A) excessive use of force;
56	56	(B) abuse of official capacity;
57	57	(C) inappropriate relationships with persons in
58	58	the custody of the license holder;
59	59	(D) sexual harassment or sexual misconduct while
60	60	performing the license holder's duties as a peace officer; or
61	61	(E) misuse of information obtained as a result of
62	62	the license holder's employment as a peace officer and related to
63	63	the enforcement of criminal offenses.
64	64	(c) In making a determination under Subsection (a), the
65	65	commission may not consider whether the license holder is
66	66	prosecuted for or convicted of an offense based on the conduct that
67	67	is the ground for suspension or revocation.
68	68	SECTION 2. Sections 1701.655(b) and (c-1), Occupations
69	69	Code, are amended to read as follows:
70	70	(b) A policy described by Subsection (a) must ensure that a
71	71	body worn camera is activated only for a law enforcement purpose and
72	72	must include:
73	73	(1) guidelines for when a peace officer should
74	74	activate a camera or discontinue a recording currently in progress,
75	75	considering the need for privacy in certain situations and at
76	76	certain locations;
77	77	(2) provisions relating to data retention, including a
78	78	provision requiring the retention of video for a minimum period of
79	79	90 days;
80	80	(3) provisions relating to storage of video and audio,
81	81	creation of backup copies of the video and audio, and maintenance of
82	82	data security;
83	83	(4) provisions relating to the collection of a body
84	84	worn camera, including the applicable video and audio recorded by
85	85	the camera, as evidence;
86	86	(5) guidelines for public access, through open records
87	87	requests, to recordings that are public information;
88	88	(6) provisions:
89	89	(A) entitling an officer to access, watch,
90	90	examine, or otherwise review any recording of an incident involving
91	91	the officer before the officer is required to make a statement about
92	92	the incident; and
93	93	(B) prohibiting the officer or employing agency
94	94	from modifying the recording in any manner;
95	95	(7) procedures for supervisory or internal review; and
96	96	(8) the handling and documenting of equipment and
97	97	malfunctions of equipment.
98	98	(c-1) A policy described by Subsection (a) must require a
99	99	peace officer who is equipped with a body worn camera and actively
100	100	participating in an investigation to keep the camera activated for
101	101	the entirety of the officer's active participation in the
102	102	investigation [unless the camera has been deactivated in compliance
103	103	with that policy].
104	104	SECTION 3. Section 1701.660, Occupations Code, is amended
105	105	to read as follows:
106	106	Sec. 1701.660. RECORDINGS AS EVIDENCE. (a) A [Except as
107	107	provided by Subsections (a-1) and (b), a] recording created with a
108	108	body worn camera and documenting an incident that involves the use
109	109	of deadly force by a peace officer or that is otherwise related to
110	110	an administrative or criminal investigation of an officer may not
111	111	be deleted or[,] destroyed[, or released to the public] until all
112	112	criminal matters have been finally adjudicated and all related
113	113	administrative investigations have concluded.
114	114	(a-1) A law enforcement agency shall [may] permit a person
115	115	who is depicted in a recording of an incident described by
116	116	Subsection (a) or, if the person is deceased, the person's
117	117	authorized representative, to view the recording, on request of the
118	118	applicable person, provided that [the law enforcement agency
119	119	determines that the viewing furthers a law enforcement purpose and
120	120	provided that] any authorized representative who is permitted to
121	121	view the recording was not a witness to the incident. [A person
122	122	viewing a recording may not duplicate the recording or capture
123	123	video or audio from the recording.] A permitted viewing of a
124	124	recording under this subsection is not considered to be a release of
125	125	public information for purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code.
126	126	(b) A law enforcement agency shall adopt a policy for
127	127	releasing [may release] to the public a recording described by
128	128	Subsection (a) that prioritizes access to the recording in the
129	129	following order:
130	130	(1) the civilian oversight system associated with the
131	131	law enforcement agency, if any;
132	132	(2) the officer who used deadly force or is under
133	133	investigation and the individual who is the subject of the
134	134	recording, or if the individual is deceased, the individual's
135	135	authorized representative, and any attorney representing the
136	136	officer, individual, or representative described in this
137	137	subdivision; and
138	138	(3) the public [if the law enforcement agency
139	139	determines that the release furthers a law enforcement purpose].
140	140	[(c) This section does not affect the authority of a law
141	141	enforcement agency to withhold under Section 552.108, Government
142	142	Code, information related to a closed criminal investigation that
143	143	did not result in a conviction or a grant of deferred adjudication
144	144	community supervision.]
145	145	SECTION 4. Subchapter N, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
146	146	amended by adding Sections 1701.6601 and 1701.6602 to read as
147	147	follows:
148	148	Sec. 1701.6601. INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN EVIDENCE
149	149	RELATED TO BODY WORN CAMERAS: UNRECORDED STATEMENTS. (a) In this
150	150	section, with respect to a body worn camera, "tampering" includes:
151	151	(1) damaging, disabling, or obstructing the video or
152	152	audio capabilities of or otherwise impairing the functionality of a
153	153	body worn camera; or
154	154	(2) damaging, deleting, or failing to properly store
155	155	or maintain any portion of the video or audio from a recording made
156	156	by the camera.
157	157	(b) Any statement sought to be introduced in a judicial or
158	158	administrative proceeding by a peace officer's testimony is
159	159	presumed inadmissible if the statement relates to an incident that
160	160	was not recorded or is not otherwise accessible through a recording
161	161	because of the peace officer's:
162	162	(1) failure to activate or keep activated a body worn
163	163	camera as required by a policy described by Section 1701.655; or
164	164	(2) tampering with the body worn camera or recording.
165	165	(c) A party in the proceeding may rebut the presumption
166	166	described by Subsection (b) by showing that:
167	167	(1) the peace officer's failure to activate or keep
168	168	activated the body worn camera was attributable to a malfunction or
169	169	other technical error and was not caused by the peace officer or
170	170	another person employed by the peace officer's employing agency; or
171	171	(2) the statement sought to be introduced is against
172	172	the interest of the peace officer.
173	173	Sec. 1701.6602. INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN EVIDENCE
174	174	RELATED TO BODY WORN CAMERAS: OFFICER'S PERSONAL INFORMATION.
175	175	Information described by Section 552.1175(b), Government Code,
176	176	that relates to a peace officer and is contained in a recording made
177	177	by a body worn camera is presumed inadmissible as irrelevant in a
178	178	judicial or administrative proceeding.
179	179	SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2024, the Texas
180	180	Commission on Law Enforcement shall adopt the rules required by
181	181	Section 1701.5015, Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
182	182	SECTION 6. Section 1701.5015, Occupations Code, as added by
183	183	this Act, applies only to conduct that occurs on or after January 1,
184	184	2024. Conduct that occurs before January 1, 2024, is governed by
185	185	the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act,
186	186	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
187	187	SECTION 7. Sections 1701.6601 and 1701.6602, Occupations
188	188	Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a judicial or
189	189	administrative proceeding that commences on or after the effective
190	190	date of this Act. A proceeding that commences before the effective
191	191	date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
192	192	proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for
193	193	that purpose.
194	194	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.