By: Gallego H.B. No. 3581
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the right of a foreign national to contact a foreign
  consular official.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 15.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
         (h)(1)  If a magistrate knows or suspects that a person
  brought before the magistrate after an arrest is a foreign
  national, other than a national of Canada or the United Mexican
  States, the magistrate shall inform the person that after an arrest
  a foreign national has a right to communicate with an official from
  the consulate of the person's country.  If the person chooses to
  exercise the right to communicate with the consular official, the
  magistrate shall notify an official of the penal institution in
  which the person is confined that the person wants a foreign
  consular official to be notified.
               (2)  If a magistrate knows or suspects that a person
  brought before the magistrate after an arrest is a national of
  Canada or the United Mexican States, the magistrate shall:
                     (A)  inform the person that, after an arrest, a
  foreign national has a right to communicate with an official from
  the consulate of the person's country; and
                     (B)  notify the consulate of Canada or the United
  Mexican States, as applicable, of the person's arrest and
  detention.
               (3)  The official of the penal institution in which the
  person is confined shall allow the person to communicate with,
  correspond with, and be visited by a consular official of the
  person's country.
               (4)  In providing a foreign national with rights
  described by this subsection, the magistrate and official of the
  penal institution shall comply with policies and procedures adopted
  by the United States Department of State that apply to the
  notification of foreign consular officials on the arrest of foreign
  nationals.
         SECTION 2.  Section 1701.253, Occupations Code, is amended
  by adding Subsection (k) to read as follows:
         (k)  As  part of the minimum curriculum requirements, the
  commission shall establish a statewide comprehensive education and
  training program on the requirements for handling the arrest and
  detention of a foreign national as provided by Article 15.17(h),
  Code of Criminal Procedure.  An officer shall complete a program
  established under this subsection not later than the second
  anniversary of the date the officer is licensed under this chapter
  or the date the officer applies for an intermediate proficiency
  certificate, whichever date is earlier.
         SECTION 3.  Section 1701.402, Occupations Code, is amended
  by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
         (h)  As a requirement for an intermediate proficiency
  certificate, an officer must complete an education and training
  program on the requirements for handling the arrest of a foreign
  national that are established by the commission under Section
  1701.253(k).
         SECTION 4.  (a)  Not later than January 1, 2010, the
  Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education shall
  establish the curriculum for a comprehensive education and training
  program for peace officers as required by Section 1701.253(k) and
  Section 1701.402(h), Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
         (b)  A person who, on September 1, 2009, holds an
  intermediate proficiency certificate issued under Section
  1701.402, Occupations Code, or has held a peace officer license
  issued by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
  Education for more than two years shall complete an educational
  training program on the requirements for handling the arrest of a
  foreign national that are established under Section 1701.253(k),
  Occupations Code, as added by this Act, not later than September 1,
  2011.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.