HBA-AMW H.B. 1250 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1250 By: Dutton Criminal Jurisprudence 3/25/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Many minority motorists across the country have been treated differently than nonminority motorists when stopped by law enforcement officers. The federal government is considering, and several states have undertaken, measures aimed at preventing racial profiling by law enforcement officers. A recent Department of Public Safety study found that African-American and Hispanic motorists were more likely than Caucasian motorists to be subjected to searches after being stopped by a state trooper. Current law does not contain provisions specifically targeted toward reducing or eliminating racial profiling as a law enforcement practice. House Bill 1250 provides that it is a Class A misdemeanor if a peace officer makes a discretionary decision to detain, arrest, or search an individual based upon the individual's race or ethnicity and provides an exception to the offense if, at the time of making the decision, the officer had information that the individual had committed an offense. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 1250 amends the Penal Code to provide that it is a Class A misdemeanor if a peace officer makes a discretionary decision relating to the detention, arrest, or search of an individual based on the individual's race or ethnicity. The bill provides that it is not an offense if, at the time of making the decision relating to the detention, arrest, or search of the individual, the officer had information that the individual had committed an offense. The bill prohibits evidence obtained in violation of the provisions of the bill from being admitted in evidence in a criminal proceeding against the individual who was detained, arrested, or searched, unless the evidence was obtained by a law enforcement officer acting in objective good faith reliance upon a warrant issued by a neutral magistrate based on probable cause. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.