HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

COMMITTEE:    Mass Violence Prevention & Community Safety, Select 

TIME & DATE:  9:00 AM (MST)
Thursday, January 9, 2020 

PLACE:       El Paso, Texas (see details below) 
CHAIR:       Rep. Drew Darby 

The committee will meet to hear invited and public testimony at The University of Texas at El Paso, Natural Gas Conference Center, located at 2051 Wiggins Way, El Paso, Texas 79902.

The committee will hear invited and public testimony from individuals and families directly impacted by the mass violence that occurred in El Paso on August 3, 2019.

The committee will hear invited testimony on the following duty only:

(5) evaluate current protocols and extreme risk indicators used to identify potential threats and consider options for improving the dissemination of information between federal, state, and local entities and timely and appropriate intervention of mental health professionals.

The committee will hear public testimony on the following duties:

(1) examine options for strengthening enforcement measures for current laws that prevent the transfer of firearms to felons and other persons prohibited by current law from possessing firearms;

(2) examine impediments and challenges to the timely reporting of relevant criminal history information and other threat indicators to state and federal databases;

(3) examine the role of digital media and technology in threat detection, assessment, reporting, and prevention, including the collaboration between digital media and law enforcement;

(4) evaluate the ongoing and long-term workforce needs of the state related to cybersecurity, mental health, law enforcement, and related professionals; and

(5) evaluate current protocols and extreme risk indicators used to identify potential threats and consider options for improving the dissemination of information between federal, state, and local entities and timely and appropriate intervention of mental health professionals.

Public testimony will be limited to three (3) minutes per witness in order to accommodate as many witnesses as possible.

If providing written testimony, please provide 15 copies.

Other Information:

Map of The University of Texas at El Paso & parking: Please copy and paste the following into your browser:

utep.edu/map/

Parking: Public parking is available in the Sun Bowl Parking Garage located on Sun Bowl Drive.

NOTICE OF ASSISTANCE AT PUBLIC MEETINGS

Persons with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who may need assistance, such as a sign language interpreter, are requested to contact Stacey Nicchio at (512) 463-0850, 72 hours prior to the meeting so that appropriate arrangements can be made.