S.B. No. 112
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the procedures for the installation and use of tracking
  equipment and for access to certain communications and location
  information by law enforcement and the admissibility of certain
  evidence obtained through those procedures.
         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 18.06(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 [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 3.  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 4.  Article 18B.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by amending Subdivision (7) and adding Subdivisions (9-a)
  and (9-b) to read as follows:
               (7)  "Electronic customer data" means data or records
  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; or
                           (vi)  location information.
               (9-a)  "Immediate life-threatening situation" has the
  meaning assigned by Article 18A.201.
               (9-b)  "Location information" means data, records, or
  other information that is created by or accessible to a provider of
  an electronic communications service or a provider of a remote
  computing service and may be used to identify the geographic
  physical location of a communication device, including the current,
  real-time, or prospective geographic physical location of a
  communication device.
         SECTION 5.  Article 18B.202(c), Code of Criminal Procedure,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (c)  The affidavit must:
               (1)  state the name, department, agency, and address of
  the applicant;
               (2)  identify the vehicle, container, or item to which,
  in which, or on which the mobile tracking device is to be attached,
  placed, or otherwise installed;
               (3)  state the name of the owner or possessor of the
  vehicle, container, or item identified under Subdivision (2);
               (4)  state the judicial jurisdictional area in which
  the vehicle, container, or item identified under Subdivision (2) is
  expected to be found; and
               (5)  state the facts and circumstances that provide the
  applicant with probable cause to believe [a reasonable suspicion]
  that:
                     (A)  criminal activity has been, is, or will be
  committed; and
                     (B)  the installation and use of a mobile tracking
  device is likely to produce information that is material to an
  ongoing criminal investigation of that criminal activity.
         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.
         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.  The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter
  18B, Code of Criminal Procedure, relating 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 apply only to a disclosure made on or
  after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 9.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 112 passed the Senate on
  April 29, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
  the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 28, 2021, by the
  following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 112 passed the House, with
  amendment, on May 25, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 120,
  Nays 22, three present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor