87R2864 JCG-D
 
  By: Wilson H.B. No. 1654
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to certain evidence obtained in a criminal investigation,
  including the issuance and execution of certain search warrants,
  the required disclosure of certain information in emergency
  situations, and the admissibility of certain evidence obtained with
  or without warrants.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 18.01(b), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  No search warrant shall issue for any purpose in this
  state unless sufficient facts are first presented to satisfy the
  issuing magistrate that probable cause does in fact exist for its
  issuance. A sworn affidavit setting forth substantial facts
  establishing probable cause shall be filed in every instance in
  which a search warrant is requested. Except as otherwise provided
  by this code [provided by Article 18.011], the affidavit becomes
  public information when the search warrant for which the affidavit
  was presented is executed, and the magistrate's clerk shall make a
  copy of the affidavit available for public inspection in the
  clerk's office during normal business hours.
         SECTION 2.  Article 18.02, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Art. 18.02.  GROUNDS FOR ISSUANCE. (a) A search warrant may
  be issued to search for and seize:
               (1)  property acquired by theft or in any other manner
  which makes its acquisition a penal offense;
               (2)  property specially designed, made, or adapted for
  or commonly used in the commission of an offense;
               (3)  arms and munitions kept or prepared for the
  purposes of insurrection or riot;
               (4)  weapons prohibited by the Penal Code;
               (5)  gambling devices or equipment, altered gambling
  equipment, or gambling paraphernalia;
               (6)  obscene materials kept or prepared for commercial
  distribution or exhibition, subject to the additional rules set
  forth by law;
               (7)  a drug, controlled substance, immediate
  precursor, chemical precursor, or other controlled substance
  property, including an apparatus or paraphernalia kept, prepared,
  or manufactured in violation of the laws of this state;
               (8)  any property the possession of which is prohibited
  by law;
               (9)  implements or instruments used in the commission
  of a crime;
               (10)  property or items, except the personal writings
  by the accused, constituting evidence of an offense or constituting
  evidence tending to show that a particular person committed an
  offense;
               (11)  persons;
               (12)  contraband subject to forfeiture under Chapter 59
  [of this code];
               (13)  electronic customer data held in electronic
  storage, including  the contents of and records and other
  information related to a wire communication or electronic
  communication held in electronic storage; [or]
               (14)  a cellular telephone or other wireless
  communications device, subject to Article 18.0215; or
               (15)  location information held in electronic storage,
  in accordance with Subchapter G-1, Chapter 18B.
         (b)  For purposes of this article [Subsection (a)(13)]:
               (1)  "Electronic communication" and "wire
  communication" have the meanings assigned by Article 18A.001.
               (2)  "Electronic customer data," [data" and]
  "electronic storage," and "location information" [storage"] have
  the meanings assigned by Article 18B.001.
         SECTION 3.  Article 18.06(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A peace officer to whom a search warrant is delivered
  shall execute the warrant without delay and shall immediately
  [forthwith] return the warrant to the proper magistrate. Except as
  otherwise provided by this code [A search warrant issued under
  Article 18B.354 must be executed in the manner provided by Article
  18B.355 not later than the 11th day after the date of issuance. In
  all other cases], a search warrant must be executed within three
  days from the time of its issuance and in the manner provided by
  this article. A warrant issued under this chapter, Chapter 18A, or
  Chapter 18B shall be executed within a shorter period if so directed
  in the warrant by the magistrate.
         SECTION 4.  Article 18B.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by amending Subdivisions (7) and (8) and adding Subdivision
  (9-a) to read as follows:
               (7)  "Electronic customer data" means data or records,
  other than location information, that:
                     (A)  are in the possession, care, custody, or
  control of a provider of an electronic communications service or
  provider of a remote computing service; and
                     (B)  contain:
                           (i)  information revealing the identity of
  customers of the applicable service;
                           (ii)  information about a customer's use of
  the applicable service;
                           (iii)  information that identifies the
  recipient or destination of a wire or electronic communication sent
  to or by a customer;
                           (iv)  the content of a wire or electronic
  communication sent to or by a customer; and
                           (v)  any data stored with the applicable
  service provider by or on behalf of a customer.
               (8)  "Electronic storage" means storage of electronic
  customer data or location information in a computer, computer
  network, or computer system, regardless of whether the data is
  subject to recall, further manipulation, deletion, or
  transmission. The term includes storage of a wire or electronic
  communication by an electronic communications service or a remote
  computing service.
               (9-a)  "Location information" means information, other
  than electronic customer data, that reveals the location of a
  wireless communications device obtained by any of the following
  methods:
                     (A)  using global positioning system (GPS)
  location-based measurements, including the querying of the target
  device's GPS service and the returned coordinates;
                     (B)  comparing a record of the target device's
  Internet Protocol (IP) address to a list of known IP addresses and
  approximate known locations;
                     (C)  querying the target device's operating
  system for the identity of nearby cellular towers and uploading the
  information to a server where the cellular tower identification may
  be compared to a list of known cellular tower locations;
                     (D)  querying the target device's operating
  system for the identifier (such as SSID or BSSID) associated with a
  nearby Wi-Fi access point and uploading that information to a
  server where the access point's identifier may be compared to a
  database or list of known identifiers of Wi-Fi access points in
  known locations;
                     (E)  using records derived from the device's
  connections to radio antennas through which a provider of an
  electronic communications service or provider of a remote computing
  service provides wireless service to that device;
                     (F)  using enhanced 9-1-1 location-based
  measurements; or
                     (G)  any combination of methods described in this
  subdivision or another similar method used to determine the
  location of a wireless communications device.
         SECTION 5.  Chapter 18B, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Subchapter G-1 to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER G-1. LOCATION INFORMATION
         Art. 18B.321.  APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAW. Articles
  18B.355, 18B.356, and 18B.357 apply to a warrant issued under this
  subchapter in the same manner as those articles apply to a warrant
  issued under Article 18B.354.
         Art. 18B.322.  WARRANT REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN LOCATION
  INFORMATION HELD IN ELECTRONIC STORAGE. (a) A warrant is required
  to obtain the disclosure of location information that is held in
  electronic storage in the possession, care, custody, or control of
  a provider of an electronic communications service or a provider of
  a remote computing service.
         (b)  Only a prosecutor or assistant prosecutor with
  jurisdiction in a county within a judicial district described by
  Article 18B.052(4) may file an application for a warrant under this
  subchapter. The application must be supported by the sworn
  affidavit required by Article 18.01(b).
         (c)  The application must be filed with a district judge in
  the applicable judicial district on:
               (1)  the prosecutor's or assistant's own motion; or
               (2)  the request of an authorized peace officer in the
  county.
         Art. 18B.323.  ISSUANCE OF WARRANT. (a) On the filing of an
  application for a warrant under this subchapter, a district judge
  may issue the warrant to obtain the disclosure of location
  information by a provider described by Article 18B.355(b),
  regardless of whether the location information is held at a
  location in this state or another state.
         (b)  A warrant may not be issued under this article unless
  the sworn affidavit required by Article 18.01(b) provides
  sufficient and substantial facts to establish probable cause that:
               (1)  the disclosure of the location information sought
  will produce evidence of an offense under investigation; and
               (2)  the location information sought is held in
  electronic storage in the possession, care, custody, or control of
  the service provider on which the warrant is served.
         (c)  Only the location information described in the sworn
  affidavit required by Article 18.01(b) may be seized under the
  warrant.
         Art. 18B.324.  DURATION; SEALING. (a) For a warrant issued
  under this subchapter to obtain the disclosure of location
  information created after the issuance of the warrant: 
               (1)  the warrant is valid for a period not to exceed 60
  days;
               (2)  the issuing court shall order the warrant and the
  application for the warrant sealed while the warrant is valid and
  shall unseal the documents after the warrant expires; and
               (3)  before the warrant expires, the prosecutor or
  assistant prosecutor who filed the application for the warrant may
  request, and the issuing court may grant, one or more 60-day
  extensions of the period of the warrant, if the prosecutor or
  assistant establishes a reasonable ground for each extension.
         (b)  For a warrant issued under this subchapter to obtain the
  disclosure of location information created before the issuance of
  the warrant: 
               (1)  the prosecutor or assistant prosecutor who filed
  the application for the warrant may request, and the issuing court
  may order, that the warrant and application be sealed, if the
  prosecutor or assistant establishes a reasonable ground for sealing
  the documents;
               (2)  an order to seal a warrant and application under
  this subsection expires on the 31st day after the date on which the
  warrant is executed; and
               (3)  before the order sealing the documents expires,
  the prosecutor or assistant may request, and the issuing court may
  grant, one or more 30-day extensions of the period of the order, if
  the prosecutor or assistant establishes a reasonable ground for
  each extension.
         Art. 18B.325.  REQUIRED DISCLOSURE OF LOCATION INFORMATION
  IN EMERGENCY SITUATION. (a) In this article, "immediate
  life-threatening situation" has the meaning assigned by Article
  18A.201.
         (b)  In each county, the prosecutor may designate in writing
  one or more peace officers in the county, other than a commissioned
  officer of the department, who are permitted under this article to
  require without a warrant the prompt disclosure of location
  information described by Article 18B.322(a) by a provider of an
  electronic communications service or a provider of a remote
  computing service.
         (c)  A prosecutor, assistant prosecutor, peace officer
  designated under Subsection (b), or commissioned officer
  designated under Article 18A.301(c) to use interception devices for
  the department may require the prompt disclosure of location
  information without a warrant as described by Subsection (b) if the
  person seeking the disclosure reasonably believes:
               (1)  an immediate life-threatening situation exists
  that:
                     (A)  is within the territorial jurisdiction of the
  person seeking the disclosure or of a peace officer that the person
  is assisting; and
                     (B)  necessitates the required disclosure of
  location information before a warrant can, with due diligence, be
  obtained under this subchapter; and
               (2)  there are sufficient and substantial facts to
  establish probable cause for obtaining a warrant for the disclosure
  of the information.
         (d)  After requiring the disclosure of location information
  under Subsection (c), the prosecutor, assistant prosecutor, peace
  officer, or commissioned officer of the department who required the
  disclosure shall:
               (1)  not later than the 10th day after the date the
  disclosure was required, make a report regarding the disclosure;
               (2)  file the report with the following office or
  agency as appropriate:
                     (A)  the office of the prosecutor or assistant
  prosecutor who, as applicable:
                           (i)  required the disclosure; or 
                           (ii)  designated the peace officer who
  required the disclosure; or
                     (B)  the department, if a commissioned officer of
  the department required the disclosure; and
               (3)  on request of a court, make the report available to
  the court. 
         (e)  The report must include: 
               (1)  a detailed description of the exigent
  circumstances and the grounds described by Subsection (c) that
  justified requiring the disclosure without first pursuing a warrant
  under this subchapter, including the sufficient and substantial
  facts that provided probable cause; and
               (2)  the names, titles, and office or agency of each
  person involved in requiring the disclosure under this article.
         Art. 18B.326.  ADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE OBTAINED. The
  state may not use as evidence in a criminal proceeding any
  information derived from the disclosure of location information as
  described by this subchapter if the information was obtained in
  violation of this subchapter. 
         SECTION 6.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to a warrant issued on or after the effective date of this Act. A
  warrant issued before the effective date of this Act is governed by
  the law in effect on the date the warrant was issued, and the former
  law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.