Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HR2528 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R34012 YDB-D
2	2	By: Clardy H.R. No. 2528
3	3
4	4
5	5	R E S O L U T I O N
6	6	BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of
7	7	Texas, 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, That House Rule 13,
8	8	Section 9(a), be suspended in part as provided by House Rule 13,
9	9	Section 9(f), to enable the conference committee appointed to
10	10	resolve the differences on House Bill 555 (an additional fee for
11	11	issuing a marriage license to applicants who are not residents of
12	12	this state) to consider and take action on the following matter:
13	13	House Rule 13, Section 9(a)(4), is suspended to permit the
14	14	committee to add text on a matter not included in either the house
15	15	or senate version of the bill by adding the following appropriately
16	16	numbered section:
17	17	SECTION ____. (a) Subchapter I, Chapter 51, Government
18	18	Code, is amended by adding Section 51.808 to read as follows:
19	19	Sec. 51.808. STATE COURT DOCUMENT DATABASE; INFORMATION
20	20	AVAILABLE; IMMUNITY. (a) The purpose of this section is to ensure
21	21	that advances in technology allowing the electronic transmission,
22	22	retrieval, and storage of court documents do not compromise the
23	23	integrity of official court records or violate the laws, rules, and
24	24	court orders requiring the nondisclosure of sensitive or
25	25	confidential information contained in the documents or in copies of
26	26	those documents that are stored in a state court document database
27	27	and accessible by the public.
28	28	(b) In this section:
29	29	(1) "Accessible by the public" related to a court
30	30	document in the state court document database means that a person,
31	31	other than a court clerk with whom the document was filed, a judge
32	32	with subject matter jurisdiction over the case, the judge's staff,
33	33	an attorney of record in the case, or a person who maintains or
34	34	operates the database, has access to the document through the
35	35	system.
36	36	(2) "State court document database" means a database
37	37	accessible by the public and established by the supreme court under
38	38	this section for storing documents filed with a court in this state.
39	39	(c) A person who establishes, maintains, or operates the
40	40	state court document database for the supreme court may allow
41	41	public access to a document filed with a court in this state and
42	42	included in the database only if:
43	43	(1) the database maintains each document included in a
44	44	manner that complies with federal and state laws and orders of the
45	45	court in which the document was filed related to confidentiality
46	46	and nondisclosure of information; and
47	47	(2) a copy of each page of a document stored in the
48	48	database clearly states that the document is an unofficial copy of a
49	49	court document.
50	50	(d) The supreme court may authorize the Office of Court
51	51	Administration of the Texas Judicial System to establish, operate,
52	52	and maintain the state court document database under this section.
53	53	The database may only include:
54	54	(1) court documents filed with a court on or after the
55	55	60th day following the date on which the Office of Court
56	56	Administration of the Texas Judicial System certifies to the
57	57	supreme court that the database is fully operational and complies
58	58	with this section; and
59	59	(2) any other documents authorized by the clerk of the
60	60	court to be maintained in the state court document database.
61	61	(e) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
62	62	System shall collect a fee for each page or part of a page of a
63	63	document electronically accessed by a member of the public from the
64	64	state court document database and deliver the fees collected under
65	65	this section to the clerk of the court in which the document was
66	66	originally filed for deposit in the county general fund. The fee is
67	67	the amount set by rule by the supreme court through negotiated
68	68	rulemaking, conducted in accordance with Chapter 2008 as if the
69	69	supreme court were a state agency in the executive branch of state
70	70	government, between court clerks and the supreme court.
71	71	(f) A person who establishes, maintains, or operates the
72	72	state court document database under this section must comply with
73	73	the laws, rules, and court orders related to sensitive data and
74	74	confidential documents that govern court documents in the custody
75	75	of a court clerk.
76	76	(g) A court clerk is not responsible for the management or
77	77	removal of documents from the state court document database and is
78	78	not liable for damages resulting from the release of court
79	79	documents if the clerk in good faith performs the duties as clerk as
80	80	provided by law and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. The court
81	81	clerk, the county in which the court is located, and the
82	82	commissioners court of the county in which the court is located are
83	83	immune from suit and from liability for the release or disclosure by
84	84	a third party of information that is confidential or otherwise
85	85	prohibited from disclosure by law, rule, or court order and that is
86	86	accessed from the state database.
87	87	(b) Section 411.075(b), Government Code, is amended to read
88	88	as follows:
89	89	(b) Not later than 10 business days after receipt of
90	90	relevant criminal history record information contained in an order
91	91	or a copy of an order under Subsection (a), the department shall
92	92	seal any criminal history record information maintained by the
93	93	department that is the subject of the order. The department shall
94	94	also send all relevant criminal history record information
95	95	contained in the order or a copy of the order by certified mail,
96	96	return receipt requested, or secure electronic mail, electronic
97	97	transmission, or facsimile transmission to the Office of Court
98	98	Administration of the Texas Judicial System and to all:
99	99	(1) law enforcement agencies, jails or other detention
100	100	facilities, magistrates, courts, prosecuting attorneys,
101	101	correctional facilities, central state depositories of criminal
102	102	records, and other officials or agencies or other entities of this
103	103	state or of any political subdivision of this state;
104	104	(2) central federal depositories of criminal records
105	105	that there is reason to believe have criminal history record
106	106	information that is the subject of the order; and
107	107	(3) private entities that purchase criminal history
108	108	record information from the department or that otherwise are likely
109	109	to have criminal history record information that is subject to the
110	110	order.
111	111	(c) Section 3(c), Article 55.02, Code of Criminal
112	112	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
113	113	(c) When the order of expunction is final, the clerk of the
114	114	court shall send a certified copy of the order to the Crime Records
115	115	Service of the Department of Public Safety, to the Office of Court
116	116	Administration of the Texas Judicial System, and to each official
117	117	or agency or other governmental entity of this state or of any
118	118	political subdivision of this state named in the order. The
119	119	certified copy of the order must be sent by secure electronic mail,
120	120	electronic transmission, or facsimile transmission or otherwise by
121	121	certified mail, return receipt requested. In sending the order to a
122	122	governmental entity named in the order, the clerk may elect to
123	123	substitute hand delivery for certified mail under this subsection,
124	124	but the clerk must receive a receipt for that hand-delivered order.
125	125	(d) Not later than December 1, 2017, the Texas Supreme Court
126	126	shall adopt the rules, fees, and orders necessary to implement the
127	127	changes in law made by this Act.
128	128	(e) Except as otherwise provided by this section, Section
129	129	51.808, Government Code, as added by this section, applies to a
130	130	court document filed before, on, or after the effective date of this
131	131	Act unless a restriction on court documents filed before that date
132	132	would impair a contract entered before that date.
133	133	Explanation: The change is necessary to ensure that
134	134	technology advances do not compromise the integrity of official
135	135	court records or violate the laws, rules, and court orders
136	136	requiring the nondisclosure of sensitive or confidential
137	137	information contained in the documents stored in a state court
138	138	document database and accessible by the public.