Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 18B.356 – Warrant Issued in This State: Compliance With Warrant
(a) A district judge shall indicate in a warrant issued under Article 18A.354 that the deadline for compliance by the provider of an electronic communications service or the provider of a remote computing service is the 15th business day after the date the warrant is served if the warrant is to be served on a domestic entity or a company or entity otherwise doing business in this state, except that the deadline for compliance with a warrant served in accordance with § 5.251, Business Organizations Code, may be extended to a date that is not later than the 30th day after the date the warrant is served.
(b) The judge may indicate in the warrant that the deadline for compliance is earlier than the 15th business day after the date the warrant is served if the authorized peace officer who applies for the warrant makes a showing and the judge finds that failure to comply with the warrant by the earlier deadline would cause serious jeopardy to an investigation, cause undue delay of a trial, or create a material risk of:
(1) danger to the life or physical safety of any person;
(2) flight from prosecution;
(3) the tampering with or destruction of evidence; or
(4) intimidation of potential witnesses.
Terms Used In Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 18B.356
- 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
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(c) The service provider shall produce all electronic customer data, contents of communications, and other information sought, regardless of where the information is held and within the period allowed for compliance with the warrant, as provided by Subsection (a) or (b).
(d) A court may find any designated officer, designated director, or designated owner of a company or entity in contempt of court if the person by act or omission is responsible for the failure of the company or entity to comply with the warrant within the period allowed for compliance.
(e) The failure of a company or entity to timely deliver the information sought in the warrant does not affect the admissibility of that evidence in a criminal proceeding.
(f) On a service provider’s compliance with a warrant issued under Article 18B.354, an authorized peace officer shall file a return of the warrant and a copy of the inventory of the seized property as required under Article 18.10.
(g) A provider of an electronic communications service or a provider of a remote computing service responding to a warrant issued under Article 18B.354 may request an extension of the period for compliance with the warrant if extenuating circumstances exist to justify the extension. The district judge shall grant a request for an extension based on those circumstances if:
(1) the authorized peace officer who applied for the warrant or another appropriate authorized peace officer agrees to the extension; or
(2) the district judge finds that the need for the extension outweighs the likelihood that the extension will cause an adverse circumstance described by Subsection (b).