H.B. No. 1659
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to creating an exception to the offense of unlawful
  installation of a tracking device.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 16.06, Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
  follows:
         (d)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
  section that the person:
               (1)  obtained the effective consent of the owner or
  lessee of the motor vehicle before the electronic or mechanical
  tracking device was installed;
               (2)  [was a peace officer who installed the device in
  the course of a criminal investigation or pursuant to an order of a
  court to gather information for a law enforcement agency;
               [(3)]  assisted another whom the person reasonably
  believed to be a peace officer authorized to install the device in
  the course of a criminal investigation or pursuant to an order of a
  court to gather information for a law enforcement agency; or
               (3) [(4)]  was a private investigator licensed under
  Chapter 1702, Occupations Code, who installed the device:
                     (A)  with written consent:
                           (i)  to install the device given by the owner
  or lessee of the motor vehicle; and
                           (ii)  to enter private residential property,
  if that entry was necessary to install the device, given by the
  owner or lessee of the property; or
                     (B)  pursuant to an order of or other
  authorization from a court to gather information.
         (e)  This section does not apply to a peace officer who
  installed the device in the course of a criminal investigation or
  pursuant to an order of a court to gather information for a law
  enforcement agency.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
  An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect at the time the offense was committed,
  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
  purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
  effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
  before that date.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1659 was passed by the House on April
  29, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 141, Nays 0, 1 present, not
  voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
  H.B. No. 1659 on May 29, 2009, and requested the appointment of a
  conference committee to consider the differences between the two
  houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
  on H.B. No. 1659 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 141,
  Nays 0, 1 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1659 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
  committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
  that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
  1659 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor