| TO: | Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB603 by Ellis (Relating to the right of a foreign national to contact a foreign consular official.), As Introduced |
The bill would amend Article 15.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, to require magistrates to both inform arrested known foreign nationals of their right to communicate with their consulate, and to facilitate the exercise of this right by contacting an official of the penal institution in which the person is confined. The bill would also amend Section 1701.253, Occupations Code, to require for an intermediate proficiency certificate that a peace officer complete an education and training program established by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE) covering the new requirements.
TCLEOSE would be required to develop the curriculum for the new training by January 1, 2006. A person who already holds an intermediate proficiency certificate or who has held a peace officer license from TCLEOSE for more than two years would be required to complete the course by no later than September 1, 2007. The bill would take effect Septembe 1, 2005.
According to TCLEOSE, the cost of developing the training course (an estimated $1,200 per course hour for what is anticipated to be a 2-hour training program) would be covered by existing resources. The course would be available through the agency's online Peace Officer System for Education and Internet Training at no cost to the peace officers or their agencies.
| Source Agencies: | 407 Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, KJG, DLBa
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