Texas Statutes
Chapter 18 - Search Warrants
Article 18.22. Testing Certain Defendants or Confined Persons for Communicable Diseases

Text of subsection as amended by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 736 (H.B. 1595), Sec. 2
(a) A person who is arrested for a misdemeanor or felony and who during the commission of that offense or the arrest, during a judicial proceeding or initial period of confinement following the arrest, or during the person's confinement after a conviction or adjudication resulting from the arrest causes the person's bodily fluids to come into contact with a peace officer, a magistrate, or an employee of a correctional facility where the person is confined shall, at the direction of the court having jurisdiction over the arrested person, undergo a medical procedure or test designed to show or help show whether the person has a communicable disease. The court may direct the person to undergo the procedure or test on its own motion or on the request of the peace officer, magistrate, or correctional facility employee. If the person refuses to submit voluntarily to the procedure or test, the court shall require the person to submit to the procedure or test. Notwithstanding any other law, the person performing the procedure or test shall make the test results available to the local health authority, and the local health authority shall notify the peace officer, magistrate, or correctional facility employee, as appropriate, of the test result. The state may not use the fact that a medical procedure or test was performed on a person under this article, or use the results of the procedure or test, in any criminal proceeding arising out of the alleged offense.
Text of subsection as amended by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1278 (S.B. 1574), Sec. 1
(a) A person who is arrested for a misdemeanor or felony and who during the commission of that offense or an arrest following the commission of that offense causes an emergency response employee or volunteer, as defined by Section 81.003, Health and Safety Code, to come into contact with the person's bodily fluids shall, at the direction of the court having jurisdiction over the arrested person, undergo a medical procedure or test designed to show or help show whether the person has a communicable disease. The court may direct the person to undergo the procedure or test on its own motion or on the request of the emergency response employee or volunteer. If the person refuses to submit voluntarily to the procedure or test, the court shall require the person to submit to the procedure or test. Notwithstanding any other law, the person performing the procedure or test shall make the test results available to the local health authority and the designated infection control officer of the entity that employs or uses the services of the affected emergency response employee or volunteer, and the local health authority or the designated infection control officer of the affected employee or volunteer shall notify the emergency response employee or volunteer of the test result. The state may not use the fact that a medical procedure or test was performed on a person under this article, or use the results of the procedure or test, in any criminal proceeding arising out of the alleged offense.
(b) Testing under this article shall be conducted in accordance with written infectious disease control protocols adopted by the Department of State Health Services that clearly establish procedural guidelines that provide criteria for testing and that respect the rights of the arrested person and the peace officer, magistrate, or correctional facility employee.
(c) Nothing in this article authorizes a court to release a test result to a person other than a person specifically authorized by this article, and Section 81.103(d), Health and Safety Code, does not authorize that disclosure.
(d) In this article, "correctional facility" means:
(1) any place described by Section 1.07(a)(14), Penal Code; or
(2) a "secure correctional facility" or "secure detention facility" as those terms are defined by Section 51.02, Family Code.
Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1480, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Subsec. (a) amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1250, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 736 (H.B. 1595), Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2015.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 736 (H.B. 1595), Sec. 2, eff. June 17, 2015.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1278 (S.B. 1574), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2015.