87R5975 MCF-D
 
  By: Menéndez S.B. No. 409
 
 
 
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.