85R3078 MEW-F     By: Collier H.B. No. 414       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the electronic recording of certain custodial   interrogations.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is   amended by adding Articles 2.32 and 2.33 to read as follows:          Art. 2.32.  ELECTRONIC RECORDING OF CUSTODIAL   INTERROGATIONS. (a) In this article:                (1)  "Custodial interrogation" means any investigative   questioning, other than routine questions associated with booking,   by a  peace officer during which:                      (A)  a reasonable person in the position of the   person being interrogated would consider himself or herself to be   in custody; and                      (B)  a question is asked that is reasonably likely   to elicit an incriminating response.                (2)  "Electronic recording" means an audio or   audiovisual electronic recording that begins at or before the time   the person being interrogated receives a warning described by   Section 2(a), Article 38.22, and continues until the time the   interrogation ceases.                (3)  "Place of detention" means a police station or   other building that is a place of operation for a law enforcement   agency, including a municipal police department or county sheriff's   department, and is owned or operated by the law enforcement agency   for the purpose of detaining individuals in connection with the   suspected violation of a penal law. The term does not include a   courthouse.          (b)  A law enforcement agency qualified under Article 2.33 to   conduct a custodial interrogation regarding an offense shall make   an electronic recording of any custodial interrogation that occurs   in a place of detention and is of a person suspected of committing   or charged with the commission of a felony offense.          (c)  An electronic recording of a custodial interrogation   that complies with this article is exempt from public disclosure   except as provided by Section 552.108, Government Code.          (d)  A law enforcement agency otherwise required to make an   electronic recording of a custodial interrogation under this   article is excused from the duty to make the electronic recording   if:                (1)  the accused refuses to respond to questioning or   cooperate in a custodial interrogation of which an electronic   recording is made, provided that:                      (A)  a contemporaneous recording of the refusal is   made; or                      (B)  the peace officer or agent of the law   enforcement agency conducting the interrogation attempts, in good   faith, to record the accused's refusal but the accused is unwilling   to have the refusal recorded, and the peace officer or agent   contemporaneously, in writing, documents the refusal;                (2)  the statement is not made as a result of a   custodial interrogation, including a statement that is made   spontaneously by the accused and not in response to a question by a   peace officer;                (3)  the peace officer or agent of the law enforcement   agency conducting the custodial interrogation attempts, in good   faith, to record the interrogation, but the recording equipment   does not function and the officer or agent contemporaneously, in   writing, documents the reason why it is not possible to delay the   interrogation; or                (4)  the peace officer or agent of the law enforcement   agency conducting the custodial interrogation reasonably believes   at the time the interrogation commences that the accused to be   interrogated was not taken into custody for or being interrogated   concerning the commission of a felony offense.          Art. 2.33.  LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES QUALIFIED TO CONDUCT   CERTAIN CUSTODIAL INTERROGATIONS. Only a law enforcement agency   that employs peace officers described by Article 2.12(1), (2), (3),   (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), or (29) is qualified to conduct a custodial   interrogation of an individual suspected of committing a felony   offense.          SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.