Relating to the definition of a designated law enforcement office or agency for purposes of certain laws governing the installation and use of tracking equipment and access to certain communications.

Contracts

• Third-Party Compliance Vendors: If you outsource subpoena/warrant response (e.g., to a dedicated LERT vendor), you must issue a directive requiring them to update their "authorized agency" logic by September 1. You remain liable for their rejection of valid orders or acceptance of invalid ones.
• Privacy Policies: Review "Disclosure to Law Enforcement" clauses. Ensure internal definitions of "valid legal process" align with this statutory expansion to prevent breach of contract claims from users.

Hiring/Training

• Intake Staff Training: Law Enforcement Response Teams (LERT) must be retrained. Staff can no longer assume only major metro PDs or the Harris County Sheriff have this authority.
• Validation Protocols: Staff must be trained to verify the *requesting agency's jurisdiction population*, not just the judge's signature.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• "White List" Expansion: Update your internal database of authorized requestors. You must add Sheriff’s Departments for counties including Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, Travis, Collin, Denton, Hidalgo, El Paso, Fort Bend, Montgomery, and Williamson.
• Rejection Logging: Maintain a specific log for requests rejected because the Sheriff's county population is *under* 500,000. This is your primary defense against contempt of court allegations.

Fees & Costs

• Cost Impact: Low.
• Reimbursement: Standard reimbursement rates for assembling and providing data under the Code of Criminal Procedure still apply; this bill does not alter fee schedules, only the volume of potential requests.