81R1812 PEP-D

By: Ellis S.B. No. 125

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. Title 1, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Chapter 65 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 65. MOTION FOR RELIEF BASED

ON INTERNATIONAL TREATY

Art. 65.01. MOTION FOR RELIEF AUTHORIZED. A person who is convicted of an offense for which a sentence of death was imposed and whose rights, during and in relation to the investigation or prosecution of the offense, were infringed by a violation by any nonforeign governmental authority of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations may file a motion under this chapter to obtain any appropriate relief required to remedy the harm done by the violation, including a vitiation of the death sentence.

SECTION 3. 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 4. 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 5. (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 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.