Texas Code of Criminal Procedure - Article 18.22. Testing For Communicable Diseases Following Certain Arrests

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Art. 18.22. TESTING FOR COMMUNICABLE DISEASES FOLLOWING 
CERTAIN ARRESTS.  (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 a peace officer 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 peace officer.  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 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 Texas Board of Health that clearly establish 
procedural guidelines that provide criteria for testing and that 
respect the rights of the arrested person and the peace officer.
	(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.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1480, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.  
Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1250, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 
2003.

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Last modified: August 10, 2007