By: Smith of Tarrant, Leibowitz H.B. No. 1634
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the release of a motor vehicle accident report or
certain information in a motor vehicle accident report; providing
penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 550.065, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 550.065. RELEASE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION RELATING TO
ACCIDENTS. (a) This section applies only to information that is
held by an agency that:
(1) receives information from or receives information
that relates to a person involved in [the department or another
governmental entity and relates to] a motor vehicle accident; or
(2) prepares information relating to a person involved
in a motor vehicle accident [reported under this chapter or Section
601.004].
(b) Except as provided by this section, a motor vehicle
accident report or information in a motor vehicle accident report
that reveals personal information relating to a person involved in
a motor vehicle accident, including the person's name, home or
employment address, and home or employment telephone number, is
confidential and privileged during the 30-day period immediately
after the date of the accident as shown on the accident report.
(b-1) Vehicle specific, nonpersonally identifiable
information is exempted from exclusion and may be released
immediately if the person requesting the information provides the
agency with a written statement averring that the information and
any information subsequently requested by the person from the
agency will not be used in connection with a commercial
solicitation of a person involved in an accident or knowingly
disclosed to a third person for the purpose of making a commercial
solicitation of a person involved in an accident.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), a motor vehicle
accident report or the information in a motor vehicle accident
report held by the agency shall immediately be made available on
request to:
(1) a person involved in the motor vehicle accident or
a person who is the owner of or a currently recorded lienholder on a
vehicle involved in the accident;
(2) a person designated in writing by a person
described by Subdivision (1) as the person's representative, the
licensed insurance agent of a person described by Subdivision (1),
or an insurer that provides coverage for a person involved in the
accident or another person under contract with the insurer to
provide claim or underwriting information;
(3) an attorney representing the state in anticipation
of, in the course of preparing for, or in the course of criminal
litigation;
(4) the law enforcement agency that employs a peace
officer who investigated the accident and filed the accident report
or the information in the report with the agency that holds the
information;
(5) the court, in response to a subpoena issued by the
court in connection with a pending judicial proceeding that
involves the motor vehicle accident;
(6) a radio or television station that holds a license
issued by the Federal Communications Commission and requests the
report or the information as part of an investigation of the
accident;
(7) a newspaper that is qualified to publish legal
notices or is a free newspaper of general circulation and that is
published at least once a week and available and of interest to the
general public in connection with the dissemination of news and
requests the report or the information as part of an investigation
of the accident;
(8) an agency of this or another state, of a political
subdivision of this or another state, or of the United States that
is authorized by law to have access to the motor vehicle accident
report or information in the accident report in connection with the
agency's statutory duties; or
(9) a private investigator, as defined by Section
1702.002, Occupations Code, who holds a license issued under
Chapter 1702 of that code and requests the report or the information
as part of an investigation into the cause of or responsibility for
a fire, libel, loss, accident, damage, or injury to a person or
property, or for the purpose of securing evidence for use before a
court, board, officer, or investigating committee.
(d) A publication is not considered to be a newspaper under
Subsection (c) if the publication:
(1) is intended primarily for members of a particular
profession or occupational group; or
(2) has as its primary purpose:
(A) the distribution of advertising; or
(B) the publication of the names and other
personal identifying information of persons involved in motor
vehicle accidents.
(e) Except as otherwise provided by this section, only a
person authorized by Subsection (c) may access a motor vehicle
accident report or information in a motor vehicle accident report
during the 30-day period immediately after the date the report is
filed and only if the person:
(1) presents a valid driver's license or other form of
identification that bears the person's photograph and evidence to
show the person's status or qualification to have access to the
accident report or the information; and
(2) files a written statement, attested to before an
officer authorized to administer oaths, in which the person:
(A) recognizes that during the 30-day period
immediately after the date the report was filed the report or the
information is confidential and privileged; and
(B) certifies that during that period the report
or information will not be:
(i) used in connection with a commercial
solicitation of a person involved in the accident; or
(ii) knowingly disclosed to a third person
for the purpose of making a commercial solicitation of a person
involved in the accident.
(f) As an alternative to requiring compliance with
Subsection (e), an agency that holds a motor vehicle accident
report that is confidential and privileged may provide a copy of the
accident report or the information in the report by electronic
means or by other means to a third-party vendor under a contract
with one or more insurers, but only if:
(1) the contract and the vendor expressly recognize
that during the 30-day period immediately after the date the
accident report was filed with the agency the report or information
in the report is confidential and privileged under this section;
and
(2) the vendor provides the agency with a copy of the
contract or a letter of authorization from the insurer authorizing
obtaining the report for insurance purposes only that certifies
that during that 30-day period the report or information in the
report will not be:
(A) used in connection with a commercial
solicitation of a person involved in the accident; or
(B) knowingly disclosed to a third person for the
purpose of making a commercial solicitation of a person involved in
the accident.
(g) Nothing in this section is intended to prevent the
dissemination or publication of news to the general public by a
radio station, television station, or newspaper entitled to have
access to a motor vehicle accident report or information in an
accident report under this section.
(h) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) is an employee of a governmental agency described
by Subsection (c) and possesses a motor vehicle accident report or
information in an accident report that is confidential and
privileged under this section; and
(2) intentionally discloses the accident report or the
information to a person who is not entitled to have access to the
report or the information.
(i) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) knows that the person is not entitled under this
section to have access to a motor vehicle accident report or
information in an accident report that is confidential and
privileged under this section; and
(2) accesses or attempts to access the accident report
or the information.
(j) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly uses
a motor vehicle accident report or information in the accident
report that is confidential and privileged under this section in a
manner that violates the person's written statement filed under
Subsection (e)(2).
(k) An offense under Subsection (h) is a Class C
misdemeanor.
(l) An offense under Subsection (i) or (j) is:
(1) a Class B misdemeanor if the person convicted
under this section has not previously been convicted of an offense
under this section;
(2) a Class A misdemeanor if the person convicted
under this section has previously been convicted of one offense
under this section;
(3) a state jail felony if the person convicted under
this section has previously been convicted of two offenses under
this section; or
(4) a felony of the third degree if the person
convicted under this section has been convicted of three or more
offenses under this section.
(m) After the expiration of the 30-day limitation provided
by this section, and on [Except as provided by Subsection (c), the
information is privileged and for the confidential use of:
[(1) the department; and
[(2) an agency of the United States, this state, or a
local government of this state that has use for the information for
accident prevention purposes.
[(c) On] written request and payment of any required fee,
the agency that holds a motor vehicle accident report or
information in a motor vehicle accident report [department or the
governmental entity] shall release the accident report or the
information to:
(1) a person or [an] entity described by Subsection
(c) [(b)]; or
(2) [the law enforcement agency that employs the peace
officer who investigated the accident and sent the information to
the department;
[(3) the court in which a case involving a person
involved in the accident is pending if the report is subpoenaed; or
[(4)] a person who provides the agency [department or
governmental entity] with two or more of the following:
(A) the date of the accident;
(B) the specific address or the highway or street
where the accident occurred; or
(C) the name of any person involved in the
accident.
(n) [(d)] The fee for a copy of a motor vehicle accident
[the] report or motor vehicle accident information is $6 or the
actual cost of the preparation of the copy, whichever is less. The
copy may be certified by the agency that holds the accident report
[department] or the information [governmental entity] for an
additional fee of $2. The agency [department or the governmental
entity] may issue a certification that no report or information is
on file for a fee of $6.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.