89R8698 JSC-D
By: Birdwell, Blanco S.B. No. 2201
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to intelligence databases for combinations, criminal
street gangs, and foreign terrorist organizations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 67.054, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
read as follows:
(b) Criminal information collected under this chapter
relating to a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist
organization must:
(1) be relevant to the identification of an
organization that is reasonably suspected of involvement in
criminal activity; and
(2) consist of:
(A) a judgment under any law that includes, as a
finding or as an element of a criminal offense, participation in a
criminal street gang or foreign terrorist organization;
(B) a self-admission, which may be implied or
demonstrated, by an individual of membership in a criminal street
gang or foreign terrorist organization, including the use of the
Internet or other electronic format or medium to post photographs
or other documentation identifying the individual as a member of a
criminal street gang or foreign terrorist organization [that is
made during a judicial proceeding]; or
(C) [except as provided by Subsection (c),] any
two of the following:
(i) [a self-admission by the individual of
membership in a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist
organization that is not made during a judicial proceeding,
including the use of the Internet or other electronic format or
medium to post photographs or other documentation identifying the
individual as a member of a criminal street gang or foreign
terrorist organization;
[(ii)] an identification of the individual
as a member of a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist
organization by a documented criminal street gang member or foreign
terrorist organization member or a family member [reliable
informant or other individual;
[(iii) a corroborated identification of the
individual as a member of a criminal street gang or foreign
terrorist organization by an informant or other individual of
unknown reliability];
(ii) [(iv)] evidence that the individual
frequents or is located at a previously documented area of a
criminal street gang or foreign terrorist organization, including
physical, digital, or online locations [and associates with known
members of a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist
organization];
(iii) [(v)] evidence that the individual
uses, in more than an incidental manner, criminal street gang or
foreign terrorist organization dress, hand signals, tattoos, or
symbols, including expressions of letters, numbers, words, or
marks, regardless of how or the means by which the symbols are
displayed, that are associated with a criminal street gang or
foreign terrorist organization [that operates in an area frequented
by the individual and described by Subparagraph (iv)];
(iv) [(vi)] evidence that the individual
has been arrested, detained, or taken into custody with known
members of a criminal street gang or foreign terrorist organization
for an offense or conduct consistent with gang activity as defined
by Section 125.061, Civil Practice and Remedies Code;
(v) [(vii)] evidence that the individual
communicates, whether in person, in writing, or electronically,
with [has visited] a known member of a criminal street gang or
foreign terrorist organization[, other than a family member of the
individual,] while the member is confined in or committed to a penal
institution; or
(vi) [(viii)] evidence of the individual's
use of technology, including the Internet and social media, to
advertise the criminal street gang or foreign terrorist
organization or recruit new members of a criminal street gang or
foreign terrorist organization.
(b-1) If a law enforcement officer has reasonable suspicion
that an individual meets the criteria to be included in the
intelligence database, the officer's name and department must be
included in the database with the individual's submitted
information.
SECTION 2. Article 67.151(b), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) Information [Subject to Subsection (c), information]
collected under this chapter relating to a criminal street gang
must be removed after five years from an intelligence database
established under Article 67.051 and the intelligence database
maintained by the department under Article 67.052 if:
(1) the information relates to the investigation or
prosecution of criminal activity engaged in by an individual other
than a child; and
(2) the individual who is the subject of the
information has not been arrested for criminal activity reported to
the department under Chapter 66.
SECTION 3. Article 67.152(b), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) Information [Subject to Subsection (c), information]
collected under this chapter relating to a criminal street gang
must be removed after two years from an intelligence database
established under Article 67.051 and the intelligence database
maintained by the department under Article 67.052 if:
(1) the information relates to the investigation or
prosecution of criminal activity engaged in by a child; and
(2) the child who is the subject of the information has
not been:
(A) arrested for criminal activity reported to
the department under Chapter 66; or
(B) taken into custody for delinquent conduct
reported to the department under Chapter 58, Family Code.
SECTION 4. The following provisions of the Code of Criminal
Procedure are repealed:
(1) Article 67.054(a)(1);
(2) Article 67.054(c);
(3) Article 67.151(c); and
(4) Article 67.152(c).
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.