87R19553 MEW-D
 
  By: Krause, Sherman, Sr. H.B. No. 1757
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1757:
 
  By:  Tinderholt C.S.H.B. No. 1757
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to recordings of peace officer performance of official
  duties and interactions with the public; creating a criminal
  offense.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 37.09(c) and (d), Penal Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  An offense under Subsection (a), [or Subsection]
  (d)(1), or (d)(3) is a felony of the third degree, unless the thing
  altered, destroyed, or concealed is a human corpse, in which case
  the offense is a felony of the second degree. An offense under
  Subsection (d)(2) is a Class A misdemeanor.
         (d)  A person commits an offense if the person:
               (1)  knowing that an offense has been committed,
  alters, destroys, or conceals any record, document, or thing with
  intent to impair its verity, legibility, or availability as
  evidence in any subsequent investigation of or official proceeding
  related to the offense; [or]
               (2)  observes a human corpse under circumstances in
  which a reasonable person would believe that an offense had been
  committed, knows or reasonably should know that a law enforcement
  agency is not aware of the existence of or location of the corpse,
  and fails to report the existence of and location of the corpse to a
  law enforcement agency; or
               (3)  is a peace officer or other employee of a law
  enforcement agency who alters, destroys, or conceals another
  person's audio, visual, or photographic recording of a peace
  officer's performance of official duties without obtaining that
  other person's written consent.
         SECTION 2.  Section 38.15(c), Penal Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (c)  It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(1)
  that the conduct engaged in by the defendant:
               (1)  was intended to warn a person operating a motor
  vehicle of the presence of a peace officer who was enforcing
  Subtitle C, Title 7, Transportation Code; or
               (2)  consisted only of filming, recording,
  photographing, documenting, or observing a peace officer, if before
  or while engaging in the conduct, the defendant obeyed any
  reasonable and lawful order by a peace officer to change the
  defendant's proximity or position.
         SECTION 3.  Section 542.501, Transportation Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         Sec. 542.501.  OBEDIENCE REQUIRED TO PEACE [POLICE]
  OFFICERS, SCHOOL CROSSING GUARDS, AND ESCORT FLAGGERS.  (a) A
  person may not wilfully fail or refuse to comply with a lawful order
  or direction of:
               (1)  a peace [police] officer, subject to Subsection
  (b);
               (2)  a school crossing guard who:
                     (A)  is performing crossing guard duties in a
  school crosswalk to stop and yield to a pedestrian; or
                     (B)  has been trained under Section 600.004 and is
  directing traffic in a school crossing zone; or
               (3)  an escort flagger who is directing or controlling
  the flow of traffic in accordance with a permit issued by the Texas
  Department of Motor Vehicles under Subtitle E for the movement of an
  oversize or overweight vehicle.
         (b)  Subsection (a)(1) does not apply to an order or
  direction to cease filming, recording, photographing, documenting,
  or observing a peace officer while the officer is engaged in the
  performance of official duties. This subsection does not prohibit a
  peace officer from giving the person a reasonable and lawful order
  or direction to change the person's proximity or position relative
  to a peace officer who is engaged in the performance of official
  duties.
         SECTION 4.  Section 37.09, Penal Code, as amended by this
  Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective
  date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of
  this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was
  committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
  purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
  before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
  occurred before that date.
         SECTION 5.  (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
  section, Section 38.15, Penal Code, and Section 542.501,
  Transportation Code, as amended by this Act, apply to the
  prosecution of an offense under one of those sections commenced
  before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
         (b)  A final conviction for an offense under Section 38.15,
  Penal Code, or Section 542.501, Transportation Code, that exists on
  the effective date of this Act is unaffected by this Act.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.