1-1 By: Jones of Dallas (Senate Sponsor - Carona) H.B. No. 806
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 16, 1999;
1-3 April 19, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Criminal Justice; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the use of electronic devices for the production and
1-9 authentication of certain court documents.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
1-12 by adding Article 2.26 to read as follows:
1-13 Art. 2.26. DIGITAL SIGNATURE. (a) In this section,
1-14 "digital signature" means an electronic identifier intended by the
1-15 person using it to have the same force and effect as the use of a
1-16 manual signature.
1-17 (b) An electronically transmitted document issued or
1-18 received by a court in a criminal matter is considered signed if a
1-19 digital signature is transmitted with the document.
1-20 (c) This section does not preclude any symbol from being
1-21 valid as a signature under other applicable law, including Section
1-22 1.201(39), Business & Commerce Code.
1-23 (d) The use of a digital signature under this section is
1-24 subject to criminal laws pertaining to fraud and computer crimes,
1-25 including Chapters 32 and 33, Penal Code.
1-26 SECTION 2. Article 45.021, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-27 amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (f) to
1-28 read as follows:
1-29 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a document
1-30 that is issued by a justice or municipal court or a notice or
1-31 citation issued by a law enforcement officer may be created by
1-32 electronic means, including optical imaging, optical disk, digital
1-33 imaging, or other electronic reproduction technique that does not
1-34 permit changes, additions, or deletions to the originally created
1-35 document.
1-36 (f) A statutory requirement that a document contain the
1-37 signature of any person, including a judge, clerk of the court, or
1-38 defendant, is satisfied if the document contains that signature as
1-39 captured on an electronic device.
1-40 SECTION 3. Section 543.003, Transportation Code, is amended
1-41 to read as follows:
1-42 Sec. 543.003. NOTICE TO APPEAR REQUIRED: PERSON NOT TAKEN
1-43 BEFORE MAGISTRATE. An officer who arrests a person for a violation
1-44 of this subtitle punishable as a misdemeanor and who does not take
1-45 the person before a magistrate shall issue [in duplicate] a written
1-46 notice to appear in court showing the time and place the person is
1-47 to appear, the offense charged, the name and address of the person
1-48 charged, and, if applicable, the license number of the person's
1-49 vehicle.
1-50 SECTION 4. Section 543.005, Transportation Code, is amended
1-51 to read as follows:
1-52 Sec. 543.005. PROMISE TO APPEAR; RELEASE. To secure
1-53 release, the person arrested must make a written promise to appear
1-54 in court by signing [in duplicate] the written notice prepared by
1-55 the arresting officer. The signature may be obtained on a
1-56 duplicate form or on an electronic device capable of creating a
1-57 copy of the signed notice. The arresting officer shall retain the
1-58 paper or electronic original of the notice and deliver the copy of
1-59 the notice to the person arrested. The officer shall then promptly
1-60 release the person from custody.
1-61 SECTION 5. Section 543.007, Transportation Code, is amended
1-62 to read as follows:
1-63 Sec. 543.007. NOTICE TO APPEAR: COMMERCIAL VEHICLE OR
1-64 LICENSE. A notice to appear issued to the operator of a commercial
2-1 motor vehicle or holder of a commercial driver's license or
2-2 commercial driver learner's permit, for the violation of a law
2-3 regulating the operation of vehicles on highways, must contain [be
2-4 on a form that contains] the information required by department
2-5 rule, to comply with Chapter 522 and the federal Commercial Motor
2-6 Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (Title 49, U.S.C. Section 2701 et seq.).
2-7 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
2-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-12 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-13 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-14 * * * * *