By: West S.B. No. 250
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the requirements of using certain technology to conduct
  certain mental health hearings or proceedings.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Section 574.202, Health and
  Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A judge or magistrate may permit a physician or a
  nonphysician mental health professional to testify at a hearing or
  proceeding by closed-circuit video teleconferencing if:
               (1)  closed-circuit video teleconferencing is
  available to the judge or magistrate for that purpose;
               (2)  the proposed patient and the attorney representing
  the proposed patient do not file with the court a written objection
  to the use of closed-circuit video teleconferencing;
               (3)  the closed-circuit video teleconferencing system
  provides for a simultaneous, compressed full-motion video and
  interactive communication of image and sound between all persons
  involved in the hearing; [and]
               (4)  on request of the proposed patient, the proposed
  patient and the proposed patient's attorney can communicate
  privately without being recorded or heard by the judge or
  magistrate or by the attorney representing the state; and
               (5)  the proposed patient is in the same location for
  the hearing or proceeding as the proposed patient's attorney.
         SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 574.203, Health and
  Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A hearing may be conducted in accordance with this
  chapter but conducted by secure electronic means, including
  satellite transmission, closed-circuit television transmission, or
  any other method of two-way electronic communication that is
  secure, available to the parties, approved by the court, and
  capable of visually and audibly recording the proceedings, if:
               (1)  written consent to the use of a secure electronic
  communication method for the hearing is filed with the court by:
                     (A)  the proposed patient or the attorney
  representing the proposed patient; and
                     (B)  the county or district attorney, as
  appropriate;
               (2)  the secure electronic communication method
  provides for a simultaneous, compressed full-motion video, and
  interactive communication of image and sound among the judge or
  associate judge, the county or district attorney, the attorney
  representing the proposed patient, and the proposed patient; [and]
               (3)  on request of the proposed patient or the attorney
  representing the proposed patient, the proposed patient and the
  attorney can communicate privately without being recorded or heard
  by the judge or associate judge or by the county or district
  attorney; and
               (4)  the proposed patient is in the same location for
  the hearing as the proposed patient's attorney.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.