Bill Text: TX SB218 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the grounds for disciplinary action against peace officers and the use of body worn cameras by peace officers.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-15 - Referred to State Affairs [SB218 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB218-Introduced.html

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88R1502 JCG-F
By: Eckhardt S.B. No. 218

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the grounds for disciplinary action against peace
officers and the use of body worn cameras by peace officers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter K, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 1701.5015 to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.5015. CERTAIN GROUNDS FOR DISCIPLINE OF PEACE
OFFICER. (a) The commission by rule shall establish grounds under
which the commission shall suspend or revoke a peace officer
license on a determination by the commission that the license
holder's continued performance of duties as a peace officer
constitutes a threat to the public welfare.
(b) The grounds under Subsection (a) must include:
(1) lack of competence in performing the license
holder's duties as a peace officer;
(2) illegal drug use or an addiction that
substantially impairs the license holder's ability to perform the
license holder's duties as a peace officer;
(3) lack of truthfulness in court proceedings or other
governmental operations, including:
(A) making a false statement in an offense report
or other report as part of an investigation, unless the false
statement is recanted not later than the 10th day after the date the
false statement is made;
(B) making a false statement to obtain employment
as a peace officer;
(C) making a false entry in court records or
tampering with evidence, including:
(i) damaging, disabling, or obstructing the
video or audio capabilities of or otherwise impairing the
functionality of a body worn camera, as defined by Section
1701.651; or
(ii) damaging, deleting, or failing to
properly store or maintain any portion of the video or audio from a
recording made by the camera; or
(D) engaging in conduct designed to impair the
results or procedure of an examination or testing process
associated with obtaining employment as a peace officer or a
promotion to a higher rank;
(4) failure to follow the directives of a supervising
officer or to follow the policies of the employing law enforcement
agency;
(5) discriminatory conduct, including engaging in a
course of conduct or a single egregious act, based on the race,
color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability,
or sexual orientation of another that would cause a reasonable
person to believe that the license holder is unable to perform the
license holder's duties as a peace officer in a fair manner; or
(6) conduct indicating a pattern of:
(A) excessive use of force;
(B) abuse of official capacity;
(C) inappropriate relationships with persons in
the custody of the license holder;
(D) sexual harassment or sexual misconduct while
performing the license holder's duties as a peace officer; or
(E) misuse of information obtained as a result of
the license holder's employment as a peace officer and related to
the enforcement of criminal offenses.
(c) In making a determination under Subsection (a), the
commission may not consider whether the license holder is
prosecuted for or convicted of an offense based on the conduct that
is the ground for suspension or revocation.
SECTION 2. Sections 1701.655(b) and (c-1), Occupations
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) A policy described by Subsection (a) must ensure that a
body worn camera is activated only for a law enforcement purpose and
must include:
(1) guidelines for when a peace officer should
activate a camera or discontinue a recording currently in progress,
considering the need for privacy in certain situations and at
certain locations;
(2) provisions relating to data retention, including a
provision requiring the retention of video for a minimum period of
90 days;
(3) provisions relating to storage of video and audio,
creation of backup copies of the video and audio, and maintenance of
data security;
(4) provisions relating to the collection of a body
worn camera, including the applicable video and audio recorded by
the camera, as evidence;
(5) guidelines for public access, through open records
requests, to recordings that are public information;
(6) provisions:
(A) entitling an officer to access, watch,
examine, or otherwise review any recording of an incident involving
the officer before the officer is required to make a statement about
the incident; and
(B) prohibiting the officer or employing agency
from modifying the recording in any manner;
(7) procedures for supervisory or internal review; and
(8) the handling and documenting of equipment and
malfunctions of equipment.
(c-1) A policy described by Subsection (a) must require a
peace officer who is equipped with a body worn camera and actively
participating in an investigation to keep the camera activated for
the entirety of the officer's active participation in the
investigation [unless the camera has been deactivated in compliance
with that policy].
SECTION 3. Section 1701.660, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.660. RECORDINGS AS EVIDENCE. (a) A [Except as
provided by Subsections (a-1) and (b), a] recording created with a
body worn camera and documenting an incident that involves the use
of deadly force by a peace officer or that is otherwise related to
an administrative or criminal investigation of an officer may not
be deleted or[,] destroyed[, or released to the public] until all
criminal matters have been finally adjudicated and all related
administrative investigations have concluded.
(a-1) A law enforcement agency shall [may] permit a person
who is depicted in a recording of an incident described by
Subsection (a) or, if the person is deceased, the person's
authorized representative, to view the recording, on request of the
applicable person, provided that [the law enforcement agency
determines that the viewing furthers a law enforcement purpose and
provided that] any authorized representative who is permitted to
view the recording was not a witness to the incident. [A person
viewing a recording may not duplicate the recording or capture
video or audio from the recording.] A permitted viewing of a
recording under this subsection is not considered to be a release of
public information for purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code.
(b) A law enforcement agency shall adopt a policy for
releasing [may release] to the public a recording described by
Subsection (a) that prioritizes access to the recording in the
following order:
(1) the civilian oversight system associated with the
law enforcement agency, if any;
(2) the officer who used deadly force or is under
investigation and the individual who is the subject of the
recording, or if the individual is deceased, the individual's
authorized representative, and any attorney representing the
officer, individual, or representative described in this
subdivision; and
(3) the public [if the law enforcement agency
determines that the release furthers a law enforcement purpose].
[(c) This section does not affect the authority of a law
enforcement agency to withhold under Section 552.108, Government
Code, information related to a closed criminal investigation that
did not result in a conviction or a grant of deferred adjudication
community supervision.]
SECTION 4. Subchapter N, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Sections 1701.6601 and 1701.6602 to read as
follows:
Sec. 1701.6601. INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN EVIDENCE
RELATED TO BODY WORN CAMERAS: UNRECORDED STATEMENTS. (a) In this
section, with respect to a body worn camera, "tampering" includes:
(1) damaging, disabling, or obstructing the video or
audio capabilities of or otherwise impairing the functionality of a
body worn camera; or
(2) damaging, deleting, or failing to properly store
or maintain any portion of the video or audio from a recording made
by the camera.
(b) Any statement sought to be introduced in a judicial or
administrative proceeding by a peace officer's testimony is
presumed inadmissible if the statement relates to an incident that
was not recorded or is not otherwise accessible through a recording
because of the peace officer's:
(1) failure to activate or keep activated a body worn
camera as required by a policy described by Section 1701.655; or
(2) tampering with the body worn camera or recording.
(c) A party in the proceeding may rebut the presumption
described by Subsection (b) by showing that:
(1) the peace officer's failure to activate or keep
activated the body worn camera was attributable to a malfunction or
other technical error and was not caused by the peace officer or
another person employed by the peace officer's employing agency; or
(2) the statement sought to be introduced is against
the interest of the peace officer.
Sec. 1701.6602. INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN EVIDENCE
RELATED TO BODY WORN CAMERAS: OFFICER'S PERSONAL INFORMATION.
Information described by Section 552.1175(b), Government Code,
that relates to a peace officer and is contained in a recording made
by a body worn camera is presumed inadmissible as irrelevant in a
judicial or administrative proceeding.
SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2024, the Texas
Commission on Law Enforcement shall adopt the rules required by
Section 1701.5015, Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 6. Section 1701.5015, Occupations Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to conduct that occurs on or after January 1,
2024. Conduct that occurs before January 1, 2024, is governed by
the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. Sections 1701.6601 and 1701.6602, Occupations
Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a judicial or
administrative proceeding that commences on or after the effective
date of this Act. A proceeding that commences before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.