1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the use of electronic devices for the production and
1-3 authentication of certain court documents.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
1-6 by adding Article 2.26 to read as follows:
1-7 Art. 2.26. DIGITAL SIGNATURE. (a) In this section,
1-8 "digital signature" means an electronic identifier intended by the
1-9 person using it to have the same force and effect as the use of a
1-10 manual signature.
1-11 (b) An electronically transmitted document issued or
1-12 received by a court in a criminal matter is considered signed if a
1-13 digital signature is transmitted with the document.
1-14 (c) This section does not preclude any symbol from being
1-15 valid as a signature under other applicable law, including Section
1-16 1.201(39), Business & Commerce Code.
1-17 (d) The use of a digital signature under this section is
1-18 subject to criminal laws pertaining to fraud and computer crimes,
1-19 including Chapters 32 and 33, Penal Code.
1-20 SECTION 2. Article 45.021, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-21 amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (f) to
1-22 read as follows:
1-23 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a document
1-24 that is issued by a justice or municipal court or a notice or
2-1 citation issued by a law enforcement officer may be created by
2-2 electronic means, including optical imaging, optical disk, digital
2-3 imaging, or other electronic reproduction technique that does not
2-4 permit changes, additions, or deletions to the originally created
2-5 document.
2-6 (f) A statutory requirement that a document contain the
2-7 signature of any person, including a judge, clerk of the court, or
2-8 defendant, is satisfied if the document contains that signature as
2-9 captured on an electronic device.
2-10 SECTION 3. Section 543.003, Transportation Code, is amended
2-11 to read as follows:
2-12 Sec. 543.003. NOTICE TO APPEAR REQUIRED: PERSON NOT TAKEN
2-13 BEFORE MAGISTRATE. An officer who arrests a person for a violation
2-14 of this subtitle punishable as a misdemeanor and who does not take
2-15 the person before a magistrate shall issue [in duplicate] a written
2-16 notice to appear in court showing the time and place the person is
2-17 to appear, the offense charged, the name and address of the person
2-18 charged, and, if applicable, the license number of the person's
2-19 vehicle.
2-20 SECTION 4. Section 543.005, Transportation Code, is amended
2-21 to read as follows:
2-22 Sec. 543.005. PROMISE TO APPEAR; RELEASE. To secure
2-23 release, the person arrested must make a written promise to appear
2-24 in court by signing [in duplicate] the written notice prepared by
2-25 the arresting officer. The signature may be obtained on a
2-26 duplicate form or on an electronic device capable of creating a
2-27 copy of the signed notice. The arresting officer shall retain the
3-1 paper or electronic original of the notice and deliver the copy of
3-2 the notice to the person arrested. The officer shall then promptly
3-3 release the person from custody.
3-4 SECTION 5. Section 543.007, Transportation Code, is amended
3-5 to read as follows:
3-6 Sec. 543.007. NOTICE TO APPEAR: COMMERCIAL VEHICLE OR
3-7 LICENSE. A notice to appear issued to the operator of a commercial
3-8 motor vehicle or holder of a commercial driver's license or
3-9 commercial driver learner's permit, for the violation of a law
3-10 regulating the operation of vehicles on highways, must contain [be
3-11 on a form that contains] the information required by department
3-12 rule, to comply with Chapter 522 and the federal Commercial Motor
3-13 Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (Title 49, U.S.C. Section 2701 et seq.).
3-14 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-19 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-20 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 806 was passed by the House on April
15, 1999, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 806 was passed by the Senate on May
26, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor