1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the punishment for the offense of evading arrest or
1-3 detention and to testing for communicable diseases of certain
1-4 persons who are arrested for that offense.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 38.04, Penal Code, is
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 (b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor,
1-9 except that the offense is:
1-10 (1) a state jail felony [Class A misdemeanor] if the
1-11 actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in flight and the actor has
1-12 not been previously convicted under this section;
1-13 (2) a [state jail] felony of the third degree if:
1-14 (A) the actor uses a vehicle while the actor is
1-15 in flight and the actor has been previously convicted under this
1-16 section; or
1-17 (B) [(3) a felony of the third degree if]
1-18 another suffers serious bodily injury as a direct result of an
1-19 attempt by the officer from whom the actor is fleeing to apprehend
1-20 the actor while the actor is in flight; or
1-21 (3) [(4)] a felony of the second degree if another
1-22 suffers death as a direct result of an attempt by the officer from
1-23 whom the actor is fleeing to apprehend the actor while the actor is
1-24 in flight.
1-25 SECTION 2. Chapter 18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
2-1 amended by adding Article 18.22 to read as follows:
2-2 Art. 18.22. TESTING FOR COMMUNICABLE DISEASES FOLLOWING
2-3 CERTAIN ARRESTS. (a) A person who is arrested for an offense
2-4 under Section 38.04, Penal Code, and who during the commission of
2-5 that offense committed an assault on a peace officer by biting the
2-6 officer or otherwise causing the officer to come into contact with
2-7 the person's bodily fluids shall, at the direction of the court
2-8 having jurisdiction over the arrested person, undergo a medical
2-9 procedure or test designed to show or help show whether the person
2-10 has a communicable disease. The court may direct the person to
2-11 undergo the procedure or test on its own motion or on the request
2-12 of the peace officer. If the person refuses to submit voluntarily
2-13 to the procedure or test, the court shall require the person to
2-14 submit to the procedure or test. Notwithstanding any other law,
2-15 the person performing the procedure or test shall make the test
2-16 results available to the local health authority, and the local
2-17 health authority shall notify the peace officer of the test result.
2-18 The state may not use the fact that a medical procedure or test was
2-19 performed on a person under this article, or use the results of the
2-20 procedure or test, in any criminal proceeding arising out of the
2-21 alleged offense.
2-22 (b) Testing under this article shall be conducted in
2-23 accordance with written infectious disease control protocols
2-24 adopted by the Texas Board of Health that clearly establish
2-25 procedural guidelines that provide criteria for testing and that
2-26 respect the rights of the arrested person and the peace officer.
3-1 (c) Nothing in this article authorizes a court to release a
3-2 test result to a person other than a person specifically authorized
3-3 by this article, and Section 81.103(d), Health and Safety Code,
3-4 does not authorize that disclosure.
3-5 SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
3-6 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
3-7 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
3-8 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
3-9 before the effective date.
3-10 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-11 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-12 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-13 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 215 passed the Senate on
February 26, 2001, by a viva-voce vote; and that the Senate
concurred in House amendment on May 25, 2001, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 215 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 16, 2001, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor