Tex. Code of Crim. Proc. Article 38.11
Journalist’s Qualified Testimonial Privilege in Criminal Proceedings

Sec. 1. DEFINITIONS. In this article:

(1)

“Communication service provider” means a person or the parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of a person who transmits information chosen by a customer by electronic means, including:

(A)

a telecommunications carrier, as defined by Section 3, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 153);

(B)

a provider of information service, as defined by Section 3, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 153);

(C)

a provider of interactive computer service, as defined by Section 230, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 230); and

(D)

an information content provider, as defined by Section 230, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 230).

(2)

“Journalist” means a person, including a parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of a person, who for a substantial portion of the person’s livelihood or for substantial financial gain, gathers, compiles, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, investigates, processes, or publishes news or information that is disseminated by a news medium or communication service provider and includes:

(A)

a person who supervises or assists in gathering, preparing, and disseminating the news or information; or

(B)

notwithstanding the foregoing, a person who is or was a journalist, scholar, or researcher employed by an institution of higher education at the time the person obtained or prepared the requested information, or a person who at the time the person obtained or prepared the requested information:
(i)
is earning a significant portion of the person’s livelihood by obtaining or preparing information for dissemination by a news medium or communication service provider; or
(ii)
was serving as an agent, assistant, employee, or supervisor of a news medium or communication service provider.

(3)

“News medium” means a newspaper, magazine or periodical, book publisher, news agency, wire service, radio or television station or network, cable, satellite, or other transmission system or carrier or channel, or a channel or programming service for a station, network, system, or carrier, or an audio or audiovisual production company or Internet company or provider, or the parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of that entity, that disseminates news or information to the public by any means, including:

(A)

print;

(B)

television;

(C)

radio;

(D)

photographic;

(E)

mechanical;

(F)

electronic; and

(G)

other means, known or unknown, that are accessible to the public.

(4)

“Official proceeding” means any type of administrative, executive, legislative, or judicial proceeding that may be conducted before a public servant.

(5)

“Public servant” means a person elected, selected, appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one of the following, even if the person has not yet qualified for office or assumed the person’s duties:

(A)

an officer, employee, or agent of government;

(B)

a juror or grand juror;

(C)

an arbitrator, referee, or other person who is authorized by law or private written agreement to hear or determine a cause or controversy;

(D)

an attorney or notary public when participating in the performance of a governmental function; or

(E)

a person who is performing a governmental function under a claim of right, although the person is not legally qualified to do so.
Sec. 2. PURPOSE. The purpose of this article is to increase the free flow of information and preserve a free and active press and, at the same time, protect the right of the public to effective law enforcement and the fair administration of justice.
Sec. 3. PRIVILEGE. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this article, a judicial, legislative, administrative, or other body with the authority to issue a subpoena or other compulsory process may not compel a journalist to testify regarding or to produce or disclose in an official proceeding:

(1)

any confidential or nonconfidential unpublished information, document, or item obtained or prepared while acting as a journalist; or

(2)

the source of any information, document, or item described by Subdivision (1).

(b)

A subpoena or other compulsory process may not compel the parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of a communication service provider or news medium to disclose the unpublished information, documents, or items or the source of any information, documents, or items that are privileged from disclosure under Subsection (a).
Sec. 4. PRIVILEGE CONCERNING CONFIDENTIAL SOURCES. (a) A journalist may be compelled to testify regarding or to disclose the confidential source of any information, document, or item obtained while acting as a journalist if the person seeking the testimony, production, or disclosure makes a clear and specific showing that the source of any information, document, or item:

(1)

was observed by the journalist committing a felony criminal offense and the subpoenaing party has exhausted reasonable efforts to obtain from alternative sources the confidential source of any information, document, or item obtained or prepared while acting as a journalist;

(2)

is a person who confessed or admitted to the journalist the commission of a felony criminal offense and the subpoenaing party has exhausted reasonable efforts to obtain from alternative sources the confidential source of any information, document, or item obtained or prepared while acting as a journalist;

(3)

is a person for whom probable cause exists that the person participated in a felony criminal offense and the subpoenaing party has exhausted reasonable efforts to obtain from alternative sources the confidential source of any information, document, or item obtained or prepared while acting as a journalist; or

(4)

disclosure of the confidential source is reasonably necessary to stop or prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm.

(b)

If the alleged criminal conduct is the act of communicating, receiving, or possessing the information, document, or item, this section does not apply, and Section 5 governs the act.

(c)

Notwithstanding Subsection (b), if the information, document, or item was disclosed or received in violation of a grand jury oath given to either a juror or a witness under Article 19A.202 (Oath of Grand Jurors) or 20A.256 (Witness Oath), a journalist may be compelled to testify if the person seeking the testimony, production, or disclosure makes a clear and specific showing that the subpoenaing party has exhausted reasonable efforts to obtain from alternative sources the confidential source of any information, document, or item obtained. In this context, the court has the discretion to conduct an in camera hearing. The court may not order the production of the confidential source until a ruling has been made on the motion.

(d)

An application for a subpoena of a journalist under Article 24.03 (Subpoena and Application Therefor), or a subpoena of a journalist issued by an attorney representing the state under Article 20A.251 (In-county Witness) or 20A.252 (Out-of-county Witness), must be signed by the elected district attorney, elected criminal district attorney, or elected county attorney, as applicable. If the elected district attorney, elected criminal district attorney, or elected county attorney has been disqualified or recused or has resigned, the application for the subpoena or the subpoena must be signed by the person succeeding the elected attorney. If the elected officer is not in the jurisdiction, the highest ranking assistant to the elected officer must sign the subpoena.
Sec. 5. PRIVILEGE CONCERNING UNPUBLISHED INFORMATION, DOCUMENT, OR ITEM AND NONCONFIDENTIAL SOURCES. (a) After service of subpoena and an opportunity to be heard, a court may compel a journalist, a journalist’s employer, or a person with an independent contract with a journalist to testify regarding or to produce or disclose any unpublished information, document, or item or the source of any information, document, or item obtained while acting as a journalist, other than as described by Section 4, if the person seeking the unpublished information, document, or item or the source of any information, document, or item makes a clear and specific showing that:

(1)

all reasonable efforts have been exhausted to obtain the information from alternative sources; and

(2)

the unpublished information, document, or item:

(A)

is relevant and material to the proper administration of the official proceeding for which the testimony, production, or disclosure is sought and is essential to the maintenance of a claim or defense of the person seeking the testimony, production, or disclosure; or

(B)

is central to the investigation or prosecution of a criminal case and based on something other than the assertion of the person requesting the subpoena, reasonable grounds exist to believe that a crime has occurred.

(b)

The court, when considering an order to compel testimony regarding or to produce or disclose any unpublished information, document, or item or the source of any information, document, or item obtained while acting as a journalist, should consider the following factors, including but not limited to whether:

(1)

the subpoena is overbroad, unreasonable, or oppressive;

(2)

reasonable and timely notice was given of the demand for the information, document, or item;

(3)

in this instance, the interest of the party subpoenaing the information outweighs the public interest in gathering and dissemination of news, including the concerns of the journalist; and

(4)

the subpoena or compulsory process is being used to obtain peripheral, nonessential, or speculative information.

(c)

A court may not consider a single factor under Subsection (b) as outcome-determinative in the decision whether to compel the testimony or the production or disclosure of the unpublished information, document, or item, or the source of any information, document, or item.
Sec. 6. NOTICE. An order to compel testimony, production, or disclosure to which a journalist has asserted a privilege under this article may be issued only after timely notice to the journalist, the journalist’s employer, or a person who has an independent contract with the journalist and a hearing. The order must include clear and specific findings as to the showing made by the person seeking the testimony, production, or disclosure and the clear and specific evidence on which the court relied in issuing the court’s order.
Sec. 7. PUBLICATION OF PRIVILEGED INFORMATION. Publication or dissemination by a news medium or communication service provider of information, documents, or items privileged under this article is not a waiver of the journalist’s privilege regarding sources and unpublished information, documents, or items.
Sec. 8. PUBLISHED INFORMATION. This article does not apply to any information, document, or item that has at any time been published or broadcast by the journalist.
Sec. 9. REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS. The subpoenaing party shall pay a journalist a reasonable fee for the journalist’s time and costs incurred in providing the information, item, or document subpoenaed, based on the fee structure provided by Subchapter F (Charge for Providing Copies of Public Information), Chapter 552 (Public Information), Government Code.
Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 29 (H.B. 670), Sec. 2, eff. May 13, 2009.
Amended by:
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 469 (H.B. 4173), Sec. 2.11, eff. January 1, 2021.
Art. 38.111. NEWS MEDIA RECORDINGS. Extrinsic evidence of the authenticity of evidence as a condition precedent to the admissibility of the evidence in a criminal proceeding is not required with respect to a recording that purports to be a broadcast by a radio or television station that holds a license issued by the Federal Communications Commission at the time of the recording. The court may take judicial notice of the recording license as provided by Rule 201, Texas Rules of Evidence.
Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 29 (H.B. 670), Sec. 2, eff. May 13, 2009.

Source: Article 38.11 — Journalist's Qualified Testimonial Privilege in Criminal Proceedings, https://statutes.­capitol.­texas.­gov/Docs/CR/htm/CR.­38.­htm#38.­11 (accessed Apr. 20, 2024).

38.01
Texas Forensic Science Commission 38.02
Effect Under Public Information Law of Release of Certain Information 38.03
Presumption of Innocence 38.04
Jury Are Judges of Facts 38.05
Judge Shall Not Discuss Evidence 38.07
Testimony in Corroboration of Victim of Sexual Offense 38.08
Defendant May Testify 38.10
Exceptions to the Spousal Adverse Testimony Privilege 38.11
Journalist’s Qualified Testimonial Privilege in Criminal Proceedings 38.12
Religious Opinion 38.14
Testimony of Accomplice 38.15
Two Witnesses in Treason 38.16
Evidence in Treason 38.17
Two Witnesses Required 38.18
Perjury and Aggravated Perjury 38.19
Intent to Defraud: Certain Offenses 38.21
Statement 38.23
Evidence Not to Be Used 38.24
Statements Obtained by Investigative Hypnosis 38.25
Written Part of Instrument Controls 38.27
Evidence of Handwriting 38.30
Interpreter 38.31
Interpreters for Deaf Persons 38.32
Presumption of Death 38.34
Photographic Evidence in Theft Cases 38.35
Forensic Analysis of Evidence 38.36
Evidence in Prosecutions for Murder 38.38
Evidence Relating to Retaining Attorney 38.39
Evidence in an Aggregation Prosecution with Numerous Victims 38.40
Evidence of Pregnancy 38.43
Evidence Containing Biological Material 38.44
Admissibility of Electronically Preserved Document 38.45
Evidence Depicting or Describing Abuse of or Sexual Conduct by Child or Minor 38.46
Evidence in Prosecutions for Stalking 38.47
Evidence in Aggregation Prosecution for Fraud or Theft Committed with Respect to Numerous Medicaid or Medicare Recipients 38.48
Evidence in Prosecution for Tampering with Witness or Prospective Witness Involving Family Violence 38.49
Forfeiture by Wrongdoing 38.50
Retention and Preservation of Toxicological Evidence of Certain Intoxication Offenses 38.072
Hearsay Statement of Certain Abuse Victims 38.073
Testimony of Inmate Witnesses 38.075
Corroboration of Certain Testimony Required 38.076
Testimony of Forensic Analyst by Video Teleconference 38.101
Communications by Drug Abusers 38.141
Testimony of Undercover Peace Officer or Special Investigator 38.435
Prohibited Use of Evidence from Forensic Medical Examination Performed on Victim of Sexual Assault 38.451
Evidence Depicting Invasive Visual Recording of Child 38.471
Evidence in Prosecution for Exploitation of Child, Elderly Individual, or Disabled Individual
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Accessed:
Apr. 20, 2024

Art. 38.11’s source at texas​.gov