By: Anderson (Senate Sponsor - Birdwell) H.B. No. 4236
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2019;
  May 14, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
  Justice; May 17, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 17, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to permitting the viewing of certain body worn camera
  recordings.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 1701.660, Occupations Code, is amended
  by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsections (a-1) and
  [Subsection] (b), a recording created with a body worn camera and
  documenting an incident that involves the use of deadly force by a
  peace officer or that is otherwise related to an administrative or
  criminal investigation of an officer may not be deleted, destroyed,
  or released to the public until all criminal matters have been
  finally adjudicated and all related administrative investigations
  have concluded.
         (a-1)  A law enforcement agency may permit a person who is
  depicted in a recording of an incident described by Subsection (a)
  or, if the person is deceased, the person's authorized
  representative, to view the recording, provided that the law
  enforcement agency determines that the viewing furthers a law
  enforcement purpose and provided that any authorized
  representative who is permitted to view the recording was not a
  witness to the incident. A person viewing a recording may not
  duplicate the recording or capture video or audio from the
  recording. A permitted viewing of a recording under this
  subsection is not considered to be a release of public information
  for purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies to a
  recording held by a law enforcement agency on or after the effective
  date of this Act, regardless of whether the recording was created
  before, on, or after that date.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
 
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