| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to evidence included in the statewide electronic tracking |
|
|
system for evidence of a sexual assault or other sex offense. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 420.034(c), Government Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(c) The tracking system must: |
|
|
(1) include all evidence collected in relation to a |
|
|
sexual assault or other sex offense, regardless of whether evidence |
|
|
of the offense is collected in relation to an individual who is |
|
|
alive or deceased; |
|
|
(2) track the location and status of each item of |
|
|
evidence through the criminal justice process, including the |
|
|
initial collection of the item of evidence in a forensic medical |
|
|
examination, receipt and storage of the item of evidence at a law |
|
|
enforcement agency, receipt and analysis of the item of evidence at |
|
|
an accredited crime laboratory, and storage and destruction of the |
|
|
item of evidence after the item is analyzed; |
|
|
(3) [(2)] allow a facility or entity performing a |
|
|
forensic medical examination of a survivor, law enforcement agency, |
|
|
accredited crime laboratory, prosecutor, or other entity providing |
|
|
a chain of custody for an item of evidence to update and track the |
|
|
status and location of the item; and |
|
|
(4) [(3)] allow a survivor to anonymously track or |
|
|
receive updates regarding the status and location of each item of |
|
|
evidence collected in relation to the offense. |
|
|
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
|
to evidence of a sexual assault or other sex offense collected on or |
|
|
after the effective date of this Act. Evidence collected before the |
|
|
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the |
|
|
date the evidence was collected, and the former law is continued in |
|
|
effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |