BILL ANALYSIS |
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C.S.H.B. 1264 |
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By: Wu |
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Criminal Jurisprudence |
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Committee Report (Substituted) |
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Law enforcement agencies collect biological samples such as urine or blood for identification purposes in DWI and DUI cases. Interested parties contend that because these entities have no statutory mechanism for disposal of this type of evidence, the storage of these samples has become a burden to the agencies responsible for the material. C.S.H.B. 1264 seeks to remedy this situation.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 1264 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require a governmental or public entity or an individual, including a law enforcement agency, prosecutor's office, or crime laboratory, that is charged with the collection, storage, preservation, analysis, or retrieval of toxicological evidence to ensure that toxicological evidence collected pursuant to an investigation or prosecution of an intoxication or alcoholic beverage offense is retained and preserved, as applicable, in the manner provided by the bill. The bill specifies that such toxicological evidence be retained and preserved, as applicable, for the greater of two years or the period of the statute of limitations for the offense, if the indictment or information charging the defendant, or the petition in a juvenile proceeding, has not been presented; for the duration of a defendant's sentence or term of community supervision, as applicable, if the defendant is convicted or placed on community supervision, or for the duration of the commitment or supervision period applicable to the disposition of a juvenile adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision; or until the defendant is acquitted or the indictment or information is dismissed with prejudice, or, in a juvenile proceeding, until a hearing is held and the court does not find the child engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision. The bill defines "toxicological evidence" as a blood or urine specimen that was collected as part of an investigation of an alleged intoxication or alcoholic beverage offense.
C.S.H.B. 1264 requires a court, for each offense subject to the bill's provisions, to determine as soon as practicable the appropriate retention and preservation period for the toxicological evidence and to notify the defendant or the child or child's guardian and the entity or individual charged with storage of the evidence of the period for which the evidence is to be retained and preserved. The bill requires the court, if an action of the prosecutor or the court changes the applicable period, to notify the defendant or the child or child's guardian and the entity or individual charged with storage of the evidence about the change. The bill authorizes the entity or individual charged with storing the evidence to destroy the evidence on expiration of the period provided by the notice most recently issued by the court. The bill's provisions expressly control to the extent of any conflict between the bill's provisions and statutory provisions relating to duties of clerks in criminal proceedings and to the preservation of evidence containing biological material.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 1264 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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