Tex. Health and Safety Code § 242.849
This is the official text of Tex. Health and Safety Code § 242.849, part of Texas’s Health and Safety Code — covers public health and safety regulation.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
§ 242.849. USE OF TAPE OR RECORDING BY AGENCY OR COURT.
Official statutory text
(a) Subject to applicable rules of evidence and procedure and the requirements of this section, a tape or recording created through the use of covert or authorized electronic monitoring described by this subchapter may be admitted into evidence in a civil or criminal court action or administrative proceeding.
(b) A court or administrative agency may not admit into evidence a tape or recording created through the use of covert or authorized electronic monitoring or take or authorize action based on the tape or recording unless:
(1) if the tape or recording is a video tape or recording, the tape or recording shows the time and date that the events acquired on the tape or recording occurred;
(2) the contents of the tape or recording have not been edited or artificially enhanced; and
(3) if the contents of the tape or recording have been transferred from the original format to another technological format, the transfer was done by a qualified professional and the contents of the tape or recording were not altered.
(c) A person who sends more than one tape or recording to the department shall identify for the department each tape or recording on which the person believes that an incident of abuse or evidence of neglect may be found. The executive commissioner may adopt rules encouraging persons who send a tape or recording to the department to identify the place on the tape or recording that an incident of abuse or evidence of neglect may be found.
(b) A court or administrative agency may not admit into evidence a tape or recording created through the use of covert or authorized electronic monitoring or take or authorize action based on the tape or recording unless:
(1) if the tape or recording is a video tape or recording, the tape or recording shows the time and date that the events acquired on the tape or recording occurred;
(2) the contents of the tape or recording have not been edited or artificially enhanced; and
(3) if the contents of the tape or recording have been transferred from the original format to another technological format, the transfer was done by a qualified professional and the contents of the tape or recording were not altered.
(c) A person who sends more than one tape or recording to the department shall identify for the department each tape or recording on which the person believes that an incident of abuse or evidence of neglect may be found. The executive commissioner may adopt rules encouraging persons who send a tape or recording to the department to identify the place on the tape or recording that an incident of abuse or evidence of neglect may be found.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in Texas?
Find a Texas lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.