§ 24.001.Recording Prohibited

A one-section chapter, and the prohibition is unqualified.

A person may not use any device to produce or make an audio, visual, or audio-visual broadcast, recording, or photograph of a jury while the jury is deliberating.

There is no exception. No provision for consent of the jurors, agreement of the parties, permission of the court, or research or educational purpose. The chapter enacts a flat rule.

The 2003 enactment followed documentary filming of jury deliberations in other states, which raised the question whether Texas juries could be recorded. The Legislature answered it before the practice arrived.

Secrecy is what makes deliberation work. Jurors who expect to be watched deliberate for the audience — reluctant to voice a doubt, to change position, or to argue an unpopular reading of the evidence. The protection is not for any juror's privacy but for the quality of the deliberation itself.

The coverage is broad in every dimension: any device, and audio, visual, or audio-visual, and broadcast, recording, or photograph. A still photograph through a doorway is prohibited as squarely as a documentary crew.

The prohibition runs against a person — anyone, including a juror. The one lawful presence in the room beyond the jury is an interpreter for a deaf juror, who is separately sworn not to disclose the deliberations.