Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3427 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Farney H.B. No. 3427
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the confidentiality of birth and death records.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. Sections 552.115(a) and (d), Government Code,
9	9	are amended to read as follows:
10	10	(a) A birth or death record maintained by the bureau of
11	11	vital statistics of the Texas Department of Health or a local
12	12	registration official is excepted from the requirements of Section
13	13	552.021, except that:
14	14	(1) a birth record is public information and available
15	15	to the public on and after the 125th [75th] anniversary of the date
16	16	of birth as shown on the record filed with the bureau of vital
17	17	statistics or local registration official;
18	18	(2) a death record is public information and available
19	19	to the public on and after the 50th [25th] anniversary of the date
20	20	of death as shown on the record filed with the bureau of vital
21	21	statistics or local registration official;
22	22	(3) a general birth index or a general death index
23	23	established or maintained by the bureau of vital statistics or a
24	24	local registration official is public information and available to
25	25	the public to the extent the index relates to a birth record or
26	26	death record that is public information and available to the public
27	27	under Subdivision (1) or (2);
28	28	(4) a summary birth index or a summary death index
29	29	prepared or maintained by the bureau of vital statistics or a local
30	30	registration official is public information and available to the
31	31	public; and
32	32	(5) a birth or death record is available to the chief
33	33	executive officer of a home-rule municipality or the officer's
34	34	designee if:
35	35	(A) the record is used only to identify a
36	36	property owner or other person to whom the municipality is required
37	37	to give notice when enforcing a state statute or an ordinance;
38	38	(B) the municipality has exercised due diligence
39	39	in the manner described by Section 54.035(e), Local Government
40	40	Code, to identify the person; and
41	41	(C) the officer or designee signs a
42	42	confidentiality agreement that requires that:
43	43	(i) the information not be disclosed
44	44	outside the office of the officer or designee, or within the office
45	45	for a purpose other than the purpose described by Paragraph (A);
46	46	(ii) the information be labeled as
47	47	confidential;
48	48	(iii) the information be kept securely; and
49	49	(iv) the number of copies made of the
50	50	information or the notes taken from the information that implicate
51	51	the confidential nature of the information be controlled, with all
52	52	copies or notes that are not destroyed or returned remaining
53	53	confidential and subject to the confidentiality agreement.
54	54	(d) For the purposes of fulfilling the terms of the
55	55	agreement in Subsection (c), the Genealogical Society of Utah shall
56	56	have access to birth records on and after the 50th anniversary of
57	57	the date of birth as shown on the record filed with the bureau of
58	58	vital statistics or local registration official, but such birth
59	59	records shall not be made available to the public until the 125th
60	60	[75th] anniversary of the date of birth as shown on the record.
61	61	SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to the
62	62	release of a birth or death record after the effective date of this
63	63	Act, regardless of whether the birth or death record was a public
64	64	record before the effective date of this Act under the law as it
65	65	existed immediately before the effective date of this Act.
66	66	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.