Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB685 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	H.B. No. 685
	1	+	By: Clardy, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Hughes) H.B. No. 685
	2	+	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 24, 2019;
	3	+	April 25, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on State
	4	+	Affairs; May 10, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote:
	5	+	Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 10, 2019, sent to printer.)
	6	+	Click here to see the committee vote
2	7
3	8
	9	+	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
4	10		AN ACT
5	11		relating to immunity from liability of a court clerk and county for
6	12		the disclosure or release of certain court documents and
7	13		information contained in the court documents.
8	14		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	15		SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 51, Government Code, is
10	16		amended by adding Section 51.609 to read as follows:
11	17		Sec. 51.609. IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURE OR
12	18		RELEASE OF COURT DOCUMENTS. (a) In this section:
13	19		(1) "Court clerk" means the clerk of the supreme court
14	20		or the court of criminal appeals or the clerk of a court of appeals
15	21		district court, county court, statutory county court, statutory
16	22		probate court, justice court, or municipal court.
17	23		(2) "State court document database" means a database
18	24		accessible by the public and established or authorized by the
19	25		supreme court for storing documents filed with a court in this
20	26		state.
21	27		(b) A court clerk is not responsible for the management or
22	28		removal of a document from a state court document database and is
23	29		not liable for damages resulting from the release of a document in
24	30		the database if the clerk in good faith performs the duties as clerk
25	31		as provided by law and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
26	32		(c) If a court clerk in good faith performs the duties as a
27	33		clerk as provided by law and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the
28	34		clerk, the county in which the court is located, and the
29	35		commissioners court of the county in which the court is located are
30	36		immune from suit and from liability for the release or disclosure of
31	37		information that is confidential or otherwise prohibited from
32	38		disclosure by law, rule, or court order and that is accessed from a
33	39		state court document database.
34	40		(d) A court clerk is not liable for the release of a sealed
35	41		or confidential document in the clerk's custody unless the clerk
36	42		acted intentionally, or with malice, reckless disregard, or gross
37	43		negligence in the release of the document.
38	44		SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
39	45		a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
40	46		provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
41	47		Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
42	48		Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
43		-	______________________________ ______________________________
44		-	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
45		-	I certify that H.B. No. 685 was passed by the House on April
46		-	24, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 133, Nays 0, 3 present, not
47		-	voting.
48		-	______________________________
49		-	Chief Clerk of the House
50		-	I certify that H.B. No. 685 was passed by the Senate on May
51		-	22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
52		-	______________________________
53		-	Secretary of the Senate
54		-	APPROVED: _____________________
55		-	Date
56		-	_____________________
57		-	Governor
	49	+	* * * * *