By: Johnson of Dallas, et al. H.B. No. 245

(Senate Sponsor - Whitmire)

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 15, 2017; May 16, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice; May 19, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 19, 2017, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 245 By: Whitmire

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to certain reporting requirements for law enforcement agencies and to the creation of a criminal justice web portal by the office of the attorney general; providing a civil penalty.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Articles 2.139(c) and (e), Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by Chapter 516 (H.B. 1036), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, are amended to read as follows:

(c) Not later than the 30th day after the date of an officer-involved injury or death, the law enforcement agency employing an officer involved in the incident must complete and submit a written or electronic report, using the form created under Subsection (b), to the office of the attorney general [and, if the agency maintains an Internet website, post a copy of the report on the agency's website]. The report must include all information described in Subsection (b).

(e) Not later than March [February] 1 of each year, the office of the attorney general shall submit a report regarding all officer-involved injuries or deaths that occurred during the preceding year to the governor and the standing legislative committees with primary jurisdiction over criminal justice matters. The report must include:

(1) the total number of officer-involved injuries or deaths;

(2) a summary of the reports submitted to the office under this article; and

(3) a copy of each report submitted to the office under this article.

SECTION 2. Articles 2.1395(b) and (c), Code of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:

(b) Not later than the 30th day after the date of the occurrence of an incident described by Subsection (a), the law enforcement agency employing the injured or deceased officer at the time of the incident must complete and submit a written or electronic report, using the form created under that subsection, to the office of the attorney general [and, if the agency maintains an Internet website, post a copy of the report on the agency's website]. The report must include all information described in Subsection (a).

(c) Not later than March [February] 1 of each year, the office of the attorney general shall submit a report regarding all incidents described by Subsection (a) that occurred during the preceding year to the governor and the standing legislative committees with primary jurisdiction over criminal justice matters. The report must include:

(1) the total number of incidents that occurred;

(2) a summary of the reports submitted to the office under this article; and

(3) a copy of each report submitted to the office under this article.

SECTION 3. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Article 2.13951 to read as follows:

Art. 2.13951. NOTICE OF VIOLATION OF REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN INJURIES OR DEATHS; CIVIL PENALTY. (a) The office of the attorney general shall conduct an investigation after receiving a written and signed report, on a form prescribed by the office, asserting that a law enforcement agency failed to submit a report required by Article 2.139 or 2.1395. If the office determines that the law enforcement agency failed to submit the report, the office shall provide notice of the failure to the agency. The notice must summarize the applicable reporting requirement and state that the agency may be subject to a civil penalty as provided by Subsection (b) or (c), as applicable.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a law enforcement agency that fails to submit the required report on or before the seventh day after the date of receiving notice under Subsection (a) is liable for a civil penalty in the amount of $1,000 for each day after the seventh day that the agency fails to submit the report.

(c) Beginning on the day after the date of receiving notice under Subsection (a), a law enforcement agency that, in the five-year period preceding the date the agency received the notice, has been liable for a civil penalty under Subsection (b) or this subsection is liable for a civil penalty for each day the agency fails to submit the required report. The amount of a civil penalty under this subsection is $10,000 for the first day and $1,000 for each additional day that the agency fails to submit the report.

(d) The attorney general may sue to collect a civil penalty under this article.

(e) A civil penalty collected under this article shall be deposited to the credit of the compensation to victims of crime fund established under Subchapter B, Chapter 56.

SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 402, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 402.040 to read as follows:

Sec. 402.040. CRIMINAL JUSTICE WEB PORTAL. (a) The office of the attorney general shall develop and maintain a web portal to collect, compile, and analyze data related to criminal justice in this state. The office shall ensure that the web portal is accessible through the state electronic Internet portal project.

(b) The attorney general shall direct each law enforcement agency to submit through the web portal any report required to be submitted by the agency to the office of the attorney general under any law, including information reported under Articles 2.139 and 2.1395, Code of Criminal Procedure, but excluding information reported under Chapter 56, Code of Criminal Procedure.

(c) The web portal must:

(1) provide access to reports submitted to the office of the attorney general through the web portal, other than reports that are confidential or protected from disclosure under state or federal law; and

(2) include an interactive dashboard that provides an analysis and a visual representation of the data included in the reports described by Subdivision (1).

(d) The reports and dashboard required by Subsection (c) must be accessible to the public.

(e) In developing the web portal, the office of the attorney general may contract or consult with a nonprofit organization that specializes in web-based data analysis.

SECTION 5. Article 2.139, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by Chapter 1124 (H.B. 3791), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is redesignated as Article 2.1396, Code of Criminal Procedure, to read as follows:

Art. 2.1396 [2.139]. VIDEO RECORDINGS OF ARRESTS FOR INTOXICATION OFFENSES. A person stopped or arrested on suspicion of an offense under Section 49.04, 49.045, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code, is entitled to receive from a law enforcement agency employing the peace officer who made the stop or arrest a copy of any video made by or at the direction of the officer that contains footage of:

(1) the stop;

(2) the arrest;

(3) the conduct of the person stopped during any interaction with the officer, including during the administration of a field sobriety test; or

(4) a procedure in which a specimen of the person's breath or blood is taken.

SECTION 6. Not later than September 1, 2018, the office of the attorney general shall develop the web portal required under Section 402.040, Government Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, apply only to a report required to be submitted on or after the effective date of this Act. A report required to be submitted before the effective date of this Act is subject to the law in effect at the time the report was required to be submitted, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 8. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over another Act of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted codes.

SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.

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