Texas Health and Safety Code 242.849 – Use of Tape or Recording by Agency or Court
(a) Subject to applicable rules of evidence and procedure and the requirements of this section, a tape or recording created through the use of covert or authorized electronic monitoring described by this subchapter may be admitted into evidence in a civil or criminal court action or administrative proceeding.
(b) A court or administrative agency may not admit into evidence a tape or recording created through the use of covert or authorized electronic monitoring or take or authorize action based on the tape or recording unless:
(1) if the tape or recording is a video tape or recording, the tape or recording shows the time and date that the events acquired on the tape or recording occurred;
(2) the contents of the tape or recording have not been edited or artificially enhanced; and
(3) if the contents of the tape or recording have been transferred from the original format to another technological format, the transfer was done by a qualified professional and the contents of the tape or recording were not altered.
Terms Used In Texas Health and Safety Code 242.849
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) A person who sends more than one tape or recording to the department shall identify for the department each tape or recording on which the person believes that an incident of abuse or evidence of neglect may be found. The executive commissioner may adopt rules encouraging persons who send a tape or recording to the department to identify the place on the tape or recording that an incident of abuse or evidence of neglect may be found.