By: Farabee (Senate Sponsor - Seliger) H.B. No. 1262
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 20, 2005;
April 21, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on
Criminal Justice; May 18, 2005, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 18, 2005, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the collection and dissemination by the Department of
Public Safety of information relating to certain threats against
detention officers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 411.048, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 411.048. THREATS AGAINST PEACE OFFICERS AND DETENTION
OFFICERS.
SECTION 2. Sections 411.048(a)-(e) and (h), Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) In this section:
(1) "Criminal justice agency" has the meaning assigned
by Article 60.01, Code of Criminal Procedure.
(2) "Peace officer" has the meaning assigned by
Section 1.07, Penal Code.
(3) "Detention officer" means a person who is employed
to ensure the safekeeping of prisoners and the security of a
municipal or county jail.
(b) The bureau of identification and records shall
establish and maintain a central index in the law enforcement
information system maintained by the department to:
(1) collect and disseminate information relating to an
individual's expression of intent to inflict serious bodily injury
or death on a peace officer or detention officer; and
(2) alert a peace officer or detention officer of an
expression of intent to inflict serious bodily injury or death on
the officer.
(c) A criminal justice agency, after making each
determination required under Subsection (d), shall immediately
enter into the information system an electronic report of an
individual who expresses an intent to inflict serious bodily injury
or death on a peace officer or detention officer. The agency shall
enter the information in the form and manner provided by rules
adopted by the director.
(d) Before entering information collected under this
section into the information system, a criminal justice agency must
determine that the report described by Subsection (c):
(1) is not from an anonymous source; and
(2) consists of an expression of intent to inflict
serious bodily injury or death on a peace officer or detention
officer.
(e) On proper inquiry into the information system, the
department shall disseminate information collected under this
section to a criminal justice agency as reasonably necessary to
protect the safety of a peace officer or detention officer. The
criminal justice agency may use information disseminated under this
subsection in the manner provided by rules adopted by the director.
(h) A peace officer, detention officer, or criminal justice
agency is not liable for an act or omission relating to the
collection, use, or dissemination of information collected under
this section in accordance with rules adopted by the director.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 552.108, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 552.108. EXCEPTION: CERTAIN LAW ENFORCEMENT,
CORRECTIONS, AND PROSECUTORIAL INFORMATION.
SECTION 4. Section 552.108(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Information held by a law enforcement agency or
prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or
prosecution of crime is excepted from the requirements of Section
552.021 if:
(1) release of the information would interfere with
the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime;
(2) it is information that deals with the detection,
investigation, or prosecution of crime only in relation to an
investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred
adjudication;
(3) it is information relating to a threat against a
peace officer or detention officer collected or disseminated under
Section 411.048; or
(4) it is information that:
(A) is prepared by an attorney representing the
state in anticipation of or in the course of preparing for criminal
litigation; or
(B) reflects the mental impressions or legal
reasoning of an attorney representing the state.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
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