84R10770 JSC-F
By: Guillen H.B. No. 3504
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the availability of death records of unidentified
persons.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 552.115(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A birth or death record maintained by the [bureau of]
vital statistics unit of the [Texas] Department of State Health
Services or a local registration official is excepted from the
requirements of Section 552.021, except that:
(1) a birth record is public information and available
to the public on and after the 75th anniversary of the date of birth
as shown on the record filed with the [bureau of] vital statistics
unit or local registration official;
(2) a death record is public information and available
to the public on and after the 25th anniversary of the date of death
as shown on the record filed with the [bureau of] vital statistics
unit or local registration official, except that if the decedent is
unidentified, the death record is public information and available
to the public on and after the first anniversary of the date of
death;
(3) a general birth index or a general death index
established or maintained by the [bureau of] vital statistics unit
or a local registration official is public information and
available to the public to the extent the index relates to a birth
record or death record that is public information and available to
the public under Subdivision (1) or (2);
(4) a summary birth index or a summary death index
prepared or maintained by the [bureau of] vital statistics unit or a
local registration official is public information and available to
the public; and
(5) a birth or death record is available to the chief
executive officer of a home-rule municipality or the officer's
designee if:
(A) the record is used only to identify a
property owner or other person to whom the municipality is required
to give notice when enforcing a state statute or an ordinance;
(B) the municipality has exercised due diligence
in the manner described by Section 54.035(e), Local Government
Code, to identify the person; and
(C) the officer or designee signs a
confidentiality agreement that requires that:
(i) the information not be disclosed
outside the office of the officer or designee, or within the office
for a purpose other than the purpose described by Paragraph (A);
(ii) the information be labeled as
confidential;
(iii) the information be kept securely; and
(iv) the number of copies made of the
information or the notes taken from the information that implicate
the confidential nature of the information be controlled, with all
copies or notes that are not destroyed or returned remaining
confidential and subject to the confidentiality agreement.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.