HBA-TBM C.S.H.B. 817 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 817 By: King, Phil Public Safety 4/16/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, Texas law prohibits the use of any technology which purports to detect deception except polygraphs. Texas law enforcement officers are limited to using polygraphs as their only truth verification instrument despite the fact that the United States Congress deemed the polygraph so unreliable it presented a danger to employees in the private sector. The computerized voice stress analyzer (CVSA) detects changes in a person's voice caused by stress and is currently being used by more than 600 law enforcement agencies. The CVSA may be more reliable than polygraphs, and it is also portable, causes no discomfort to the person being tested, can work with audio and video tapes, and does not produce the inconclusive results common to polygraphs. C.S.H.B. 817 authorizes licensed peace officers to utilize voice stress analysis technology while conducting official criminal investigations. 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 C.S.H.B. 817 amends the Occupations Code to provide that a licensed peace officer who is a certified voice stress examiner (certified officer) is not required to hold a polygraph examiner license to use a computerized voice stress analyzer during a criminal investigation. Such an officer is prohibited from administering a voice stress examination during a criminal investigation to a person who charges or seeks to charge in a complaint the commission of certain sexual offenses. The bill provides that the certification to use a voice stress analyzer must be made by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. A certified officer must inform a subject who is to be examined during a criminal investigation of the nature of the voice stress examination and that the subject's participation in the examination is voluntary. Statutory confidentiality requirements apply to information acquired from a voice stress examination during a criminal investigation to the same extent that those requirements apply to information acquired from a polygraph examination. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 817 differs from the original by providing that the certification to use a voice stress analyzer (analyzer) must be made by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education rather than by the company who manufactured the analyzer or the governmental entity that appointed or employs the peace officer. The substitute also adds provisions regarding actions required and prohibited of an officer while using the analyzer and confidentiality requirements.