Criminal and Civil Liability

Sec. 242.842. CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LIABILITY. (a) It is a defense to prosecution under Section 16.02, Penal Code, or any other statute of this state under which it is an offense to intercept a communication or disclose or use an intercepted communication, that the communication was intercepted by an electronic monitoring device placed in the room of a resident of an institution. (b) This subchapter does not affect whether a person may be held to be civilly liable under other law in connection with placing an electronic monitoring device in the room of a resident of an institution or in connection with using or disclosing a tape or recording made by the device except: (1) as specifically provided by this subchapter; or (2) to the extent that liability is affected by: (A) a consent or waiver signed under this subchapter; or (B) the fact that authorized electronic monitoring is required to be conducted with notice to persons who enter a resident's room. (c) A communication or other sound acquired by an audio electronic monitoring device installed under the provisions of this subchapter concerning authorized electronic monitoring is not considered to be: (1) an oral communication as defined by Article 18A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure; or (2) a communication as defined by Section 123.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1224, Sec. 1, eff. June 15, 2001. Amended by: Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1058 (H.B. 2931), Sec. 3.13, eff. January 1, 2019.