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Tex. Penal Code § 9.54

This is the official text of Tex. Penal Code § 9.54, part of Texas’s Penal Code — defines crimes and punishments in Texas.

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§ 9.54. LIMITATION ON USE OF FORCE BY DRONE.

Official statutory text

(a) In this section:

(1) "Autonomous drone" means a drone that operates autonomously through computer software or other programming.

(2) "Drone" and "law enforcement agency" have the meanings assigned by Article 2B.0253, Code of Criminal Procedure.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the use of force, including deadly force, involving a drone is justified under this subchapter only if:

(1) at the time the use of force occurred, the actor was employed by a law enforcement agency;

(2) the use of force:

(A) would have been justified under another provision of this subchapter; and

(B) did not involve the use of deadly force by means of an autonomous drone; and

(3) before the use of force occurred, the law enforcement agency employing the actor adopted and submitted to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement a policy on the agency's use of force by means of a drone, as required by Article 2B.0253, Code of Criminal Procedure, and the use of force conformed to the requirements of that policy.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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