87R5882 JCG-D
 
  By: West S.B. No. 1867
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the issuance and execution of certain search warrants
  in a criminal investigation and the admissibility of evidence
  obtained through certain searches.
         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.  [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. 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 18.07(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Unless the magistrate directs in the warrant a shorter
  period for the execution of any search warrant issued under this
  chapter, Chapter 18A, or Chapter 18B, the [The] period allowed for
  the execution of the [a search] warrant, exclusive of the day of its
  issuance and of the day of its execution, is:
               (1)  15 whole days if the warrant is issued solely to
  search for and seize specimens from a specific person for DNA
  analysis and comparison, including blood and saliva samples;
               (2)  10 whole days if the warrant is issued under
  Article 18B.354 or Subchapter G-1, Chapter 18B; or
               (3)  three whole days if the warrant is issued for a
  purpose other than that described by Subdivision (1) or (2).
         SECTION 5.  Article 18B.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by amending Subdivisions (7) and (8) and adding
  Subdivisions (9-a) and (9-b) 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)  "Immediate life-threatening situation" has the
  meaning assigned by Article 18A.201.
               (9-b)  "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 6.  Chapter 18B, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Subchapter G-1 to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER G-1. PROSPECTIVE LOCATION INFORMATION
         Art. 18B.321.  APPLICABILITY. (a) This subchapter applies
  only to a warrant described by Article 18B.322 for the required
  disclosure of location information that is:
               (1)  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;
  and
               (2)  created after the issuance of the warrant.
         (b)  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 described by
  Article 18B.321(a) by a provider of an electronic communications
  service or a provider of a remote computing service.
         (b)  Only a prosecutor or a prosecutor's assistant 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 of a
  designated law enforcement office or agency or an authorized peace
  officer commissioned by the department.
         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:
                     (A)  produce evidence of an offense under
  investigation; or
                     (B)  result in the apprehension of a fugitive from
  justice; 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) A warrant issued
  under this subchapter is valid for a period not to exceed 60 days
  after the date the warrant is issued, unless the prosecutor or
  prosecutor's assistant applies for and obtains an extension of that
  period from the court before the warrant expires.
         (b)  Each extension granted under Subsection (a) may not
  exceed a period of 60 days.
         (c)  A district court that issues a warrant under this
  subchapter shall order the warrant and the application for the
  warrant sealed and may not unseal the warrant and application until
  after the warrant expires.
         Art. 18B.325.  EMERGENCY DISCLOSURE. (a) An authorized
  peace officer of a designated law enforcement office or agency or an
  authorized peace officer commissioned by the department may,
  without a warrant, require the disclosure of location information
  described by Article 18B.321(a) if:
               (1)  the officer reasonably believes an immediate
  life-threatening situation exists that:
                     (A)  is within the officer's territorial
  jurisdiction; and
                     (B)  requires the disclosure of the location
  information before a warrant can, with due diligence, be obtained
  under this subchapter; and
               (2)  there are sufficient grounds under this subchapter
  on which to obtain a warrant requiring the disclosure of the
  location information.
         (b)  Not later than 48 hours after requiring disclosure of
  location information without a warrant under Subsection (a), the
  authorized peace officer shall obtain a warrant for that purpose in
  accordance with this subchapter.
         Art. 18B.326.  CERTAIN EVIDENCE NOT ADMISSIBLE. The state
  may not use as evidence in a criminal proceeding any information
  obtained through the required disclosure of location information
  described by Article 18B.321(a), unless:
               (1)  a warrant is obtained before requiring the
  disclosure; or
               (2)  if the disclosure is required under Article
  18B.325 before a warrant can be obtained, the authorized peace
  officer who required the disclosure obtains a warrant as required
  by Subsection (b) of that article.
         SECTION 7.  Article 18B.151(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
  is repealed.
         SECTION 8.  Chapter 18B, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
  amended by this Act, applies to the disclosure of certain
  information by a provider of an electronic communications service
  or a provider of a remote computing service under a warrant, order,
  or other legal process on or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 9.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.