Bill Text: TX SB409 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to evidence included in the statewide electronic tracking system for evidence of a sexual assault or other sex offense.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-09 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB409 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB409-Introduced.html

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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.