87R4360 AJZ-D
 
  By: Neave H.B. No. 2462
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to a forensic medical examination occurring with respect
  to a sexual assault reported to a law enforcement agency.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 56A.251, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to conform to Section 3, Chapter 1037 (H.B. 616), Acts of
  the 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, and is further amended
  to read as follows:
         Art. 56A.251.  REQUEST FOR FORENSIC MEDICAL EXAMINATION.
  (a)  If [Except as provided by Subsection (b), if] a sexual assault
  is reported to a law enforcement agency within 120 [96] hours after
  the assault, the law enforcement agency, with the consent of the
  victim of the reported [alleged] assault, a person authorized to
  act on behalf of the victim, or an employee of the Department of
  Family and Protective Services, shall request a forensic medical
  examination of the victim for use in the investigation or
  prosecution of the offense.
         (b)  [A law enforcement agency may decline to request a
  forensic medical examination under Subsection (a) only if:
               [(1)  the person reporting the sexual assault has made
  one or more false reports of sexual assault to any law enforcement
  agency; and
               [(2)  there is no other evidence to corroborate the
  current allegations of sexual assault.
         [(c)]  If a sexual assault is not reported within the period
  described by Subsection (a), on receiving the consent described by
  Subsection (a), [that subsection] a law enforcement agency may
  request a forensic medical examination of a victim of a reported [an
  alleged] sexual assault for use in the investigation or prosecution
  of the offense if:
               (1)  based on the circumstances of the reported
  assault, the agency believes a forensic medical examination would
  further that investigation or prosecution; or
               (2)  after a medical evaluation by a physician, sexual
  assault examiner, or sexual assault nurse examiner, the physician
  or examiner notifies the agency that a forensic medical examination
  should be conducted [as considered appropriate by the agency].
         (c)  If a sexual assault is reported to a law enforcement
  agency as provided by Subsection (a) or (b), the law enforcement
  agency shall document, in the form and manner required by the
  attorney general, whether the agency requested a forensic medical
  examination.  The law enforcement agency shall:
               (1)  provide the documentation of the agency's decision
  regarding a request for a forensic medical examination to:
                     (A)  the health care facility and the physician,
  sexual assault examiner, or sexual assault nurse examiner, as
  applicable, who provides services to the victim that are related to
  the sexual assault; and
                     (B)  the victim or the person who consented to the
  forensic medical examination on behalf of the victim; and
               (2)  maintain the documentation of the agency's
  decision in accordance with the agency's record retention policies.
         SECTION 2.  To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
  over another Act of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021,
  relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
  codes.
         SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to a sexual assault reported on or after the effective date of this
  Act.  A sexual assault reported before the effective date of this
  Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the sexual assault
  was reported, and the former law is continued in effect for that
  purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.