2023 Texas Statutes › Code of Criminal Procedure › Title 1 - Code of Criminal Procedure › Chapter 2B - Law Enforcement Interactions With Public › Subchapter E. Electronic Recording of Custodial Interrogations › Article 2B.0202. Recording of Custodial Interrogation Required; Exceptions

(a)  Unless good cause exists that makes electronic recording infeasible, a law enforcement agency shall make a complete and contemporaneous electronic recording of any custodial interrogation that occurs in a place of detention and is of an individual suspected of committing or charged with the commission of an offense under the following provisions of the Penal Code:
(1)  Section 19.02 (murder);
(2)  Section 19.03 (capital murder);
(3)  Section 20.03 (kidnapping);
(4)  Section 20.04 (aggravated kidnapping);
(5)  Section 20A.02 (trafficking of persons);
(6)  Section 20A.03 (continuous trafficking of persons);
(7)  Section 21.02 (continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled individual);
(8)  Section 21.11 (indecency with a child);
(9)  Section 21.12 (improper relationship between educator and student);
(10)  Section 22.011 (sexual assault);
(11)  Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual assault); or
(12)  Section 43.25 (sexual performance by a child).
(b)  For purposes of Subsection (a), an electronic recording of a custodial interrogation is complete only if the recording:
(1)  begins at or before the time the individual being interrogated enters the area of the place of detention in which the custodial interrogation will take place or receives a warning described by Section 2(a), Article 38.22, whichever is earlier; and
(2)  continues until the time the interrogation ends.
(c)  For purposes of Subsection (a), good cause that makes electronic recording infeasible includes the following:
(1)  the individual being interrogated refused to respond or cooperate in a custodial interrogation at which an electronic recording was being made, provided that:
(A)  a contemporaneous recording of the refusal was made; or
(B)  the peace officer or agent of the law enforcement agency conducting the interrogation attempted, in good faith, to record the individual's refusal but the individual was unwilling to have the refusal recorded, and the peace officer or agent contemporaneously, in writing, documented the refusal;
(2)  the statement was not made as the result of a custodial interrogation, including a statement that was 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 interrogation attempted, in good faith, to record the interrogation but:
(A)  the recording equipment did not function;
(B)  the officer or agent inadvertently operated the equipment incorrectly; or
(C)  the equipment malfunctioned or stopped operating without the knowledge of the officer or agent;
(4)  exigent public safety concerns prevented or rendered infeasible the making of an electronic recording of the statement; or
(5)  the peace officer or agent of the law enforcement agency conducting the interrogation reasonably believed at the time the interrogation commenced that the individual being interrogated was not taken into custody for or being interrogated concerning the commission of an offense listed in Subsection (a).
Added by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 765 (H.B. 4504), Sec. 1.001, eff. January 1, 2025.
Text of article effective on January 01, 2025