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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to information contained in an intelligence database used |
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to investigate and prosecute offenses committed by criminal street |
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gangs. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Article 61.02, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to |
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read as follows: |
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(c) Criminal information collected under this chapter |
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relating to a criminal street gang must: |
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(1) be relevant to the identification of an |
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organization that is reasonably suspected of involvement in |
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criminal activity; and |
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(2) consist of: |
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(A) a judgment under any law that includes, as a |
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finding or as an element of a criminal offense, participation in a |
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criminal street gang; |
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(B) a self-admission by the individual of |
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criminal street gang membership that is made during a judicial |
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proceeding; or |
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(C) any two of the following: |
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(i) a self-admission by the individual of |
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criminal street gang membership that is not made during a judicial |
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proceeding, including the use of the Internet to post photographs |
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or other documentation identifying the individual as a member of a |
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criminal street gang; |
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(ii) an identification of the individual as |
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a criminal street gang member by a reliable informant or other |
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individual; |
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(iii) a corroborated identification of the |
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individual as a criminal street gang member by an informant or other |
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individual of unknown reliability; |
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(iv) evidence that the individual frequents |
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a documented area of a criminal street gang and associates with |
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known criminal street gang members; |
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(v) evidence that the individual uses, in |
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more than an incidental manner, criminal street gang dress, hand |
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signals, tattoos, or symbols, including expressions of letters, |
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numbers, words, or marks, regardless of the format or medium in |
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which the symbols are displayed, that are associated with a |
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criminal street gang that operates in an area frequented by the |
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individual and described by Subparagraph (iv); [or] |
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(vi) evidence that the individual has been |
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arrested or taken into custody with known criminal street gang |
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members for an offense or conduct consistent with criminal street |
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gang activity; |
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(vii) evidence that the individual |
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possesses one or more documents of a criminal street gang, |
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including documents maintained in an electronic format; |
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(viii) evidence that the individual has |
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visited a known criminal street gang member, other than a family |
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member of the individual, while the gang member is confined in or |
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committed to a penal institution; or |
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(ix) evidence of the individual's use of |
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technology, including the Internet, to: |
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(a) recruit new criminal street gang |
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members; or |
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(b) provide a forum for |
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communications between known criminal street gang members. |
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(d) In this article: |
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(1) "Electronic format" means a medium or format of |
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digital data that enables storage of the data on a cell phone, |
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pager, computer or data processor, or other electronic device. |
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(2) "Family member" means a person related to another |
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person within the first degree by consanguinity or affinity, as |
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described by Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code, except |
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that the term does not include a person who is considered to be |
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related to another person by affinity only as described by Section |
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573.024(b), Government Code. |
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(3) "Penal institution" means a confinement facility |
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operated by or under a contract with any division of the Texas |
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Department of Criminal Justice, a confinement facility operated by |
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or under contract with the Texas Youth Commission, or a juvenile |
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secure pre-adjudication or post-adjudication facility operated by |
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or under a local juvenile probation department, or a county jail. |
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SECTION 2. Article 61.06(b), Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(b) Subject to Subsection (c), information collected under |
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this chapter relating to a criminal street gang must be removed from |
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an intelligence database established under Article 61.02 and the |
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intelligence database maintained by the department under Article |
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61.03 after five [three] years if: |
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(1) the information relates to the investigation or |
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prosecution of criminal activity engaged in by an individual other |
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than a child; and |
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(2) the individual who is the subject of the |
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information has not been arrested for criminal activity reported to |
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the department under Chapter 60. |
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SECTION 3. Article 61.06(c), Code of Criminal Procedure, as |
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amended by Chapters 258 (S.B. 111), 263 (S.B. 103), and 1308 (S.B. |
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1909), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is |
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reenacted and amended to read as follows: |
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(c) In determining whether information is required to be |
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removed from an intelligence database under Subsection (b), the |
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five-year [three-year] period does not include any period during |
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which the individual who is the subject of the information is: |
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(1) confined in a correctional facility operated by or |
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under contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; |
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(2) committed to a secure correctional facility |
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operated by or under contract with the Texas Youth Commission, as |
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defined by Section 51.02, Family Code; or |
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(3) confined in a county jail or confined in or |
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committed to a facility operated by a juvenile board in lieu of |
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being confined in a correctional facility operated by or under |
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contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or being |
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committed to a secure correctional facility operated by or under |
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contract with the Texas Youth Commission. |
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SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act in amending |
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Article 61.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, applies to any |
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applicable information maintained in an intelligence database |
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under Chapter 61 of that code on or after the effective date of this |
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Act. |
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SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |