83R11309 SCL-F
 
  By: Naishtat H.B. No. 3725
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the service of a subpoena for the attendance of a law
  enforcement agency employee.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 23, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subchapter D to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER D. SUBPOENAS
         Sec. 23.251.  SERVICE OF SUBPOENA FOR ATTENDANCE OF LAW
  ENFORCEMENT EMPLOYEES. (a) In this section, "law enforcement
  agency" has the meaning assigned by Article 59.01(5), Code of
  Criminal Procedure.
         (b)  Each law enforcement agency shall designate an
  individual within the agency to receive subpoenas for the
  attendance of a law enforcement agency employee. Service of a
  subpoena for the attendance of an agency employee on the designated
  individual is considered service on the employee named in the
  subpoena.
         (c)  The designated individual described by Subsection (b)
  shall receive subpoenas for the attendance of a law enforcement
  employee at the law enforcement agency's main office during the law
  enforcement agency's normal business hours. The law enforcement
  agency shall designate another individual within the agency to
  accept a subpoena for the attendance of a law enforcement agency
  employee if the designated individual is unavailable.
         (d)  The designated individual described by Subsection (b)
  shall provide the subpoena to the employee named in the subpoena as
  soon as practicable. The court presiding over the case for which
  the subpoena was issued may require the designated individual and
  law enforcement agency of the designated individual to pay court
  costs incurred as a result of a failure to accept a subpoena or to
  provide the subpoena to the employee named in the subpoena.
         (e)  The law enforcement agency shall post the address,
  location, and name of the designated individual described by
  Subsection (b) on the agency's Internet website, if any, and a
  bulletin board in each courthouse in the county in which the
  agency's main office is located.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 22, Civil Practice and
  Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 22.0025 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 22.0025.  SUBPOENAS FOR ATTENDANCE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
  AGENCY EMPLOYEES. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
  code, the requirements for a subpoena for the attendance of a law
  enforcement agency employee in a civil action are governed by
  Section 23.251, Government Code.
         SECTION 3.  Article 24.04(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as otherwise provided by Section 23.251,
  Government Code, a [A] subpoena is served by:
               (1)  reading the subpoena in the hearing of the
  witness;
               (2)  delivering a copy of the subpoena to the witness;
               (3)  electronically transmitting a copy of the
  subpoena, acknowledgment of receipt requested, to the last known
  electronic address of the witness; or
               (4)  mailing a copy of the subpoena by certified mail,
  return receipt requested, to the last known address of the witness
  unless:
                     (A)  the applicant for the subpoena requests in
  writing that the subpoena not be served by certified mail; or
                     (B)  the proceeding for which the witness is being
  subpoenaed is set to begin within seven business days after the date
  the subpoena would be mailed.
         SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to a subpoena issued on or after the effective date of this Act. A
  subpoena issued before the effective date of this Act is governed by
  the law in effect on the date the subpoena was issued, and that law
  continues in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.