Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB703 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	86R20623 EAS-F
2		-	By: Harris, Allison, Frank, et al. H.B. No. 703
3		-	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 703:
4		-	By: Allison C.S.H.B. No. 703
	1	+	86R7151 EAS-F
	2	+	By: Harris H.B. No. 703
5	3
6	4
7	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	6		AN ACT
9	7		relating to the confidentiality of birth records.
10	8		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	9		SECTION 1. Sections 552.115(a) and (d), Government Code,
12	10		are amended to read as follows:
13	11		(a) A birth or death record maintained by the vital
14	12		statistics unit of the Department of State Health Services or a
15	13		local registration official is excepted from the requirements of
16	14		Section 552.021, except that:
17	15		(1) a birth record is public information and available
18		-	to the public on and after the ~~90th~~ [75th] anniversary of the date
	16	+	to the public on and after the 125th [75th] anniversary of the date
19	17		of birth as shown on the record filed with the vital statistics unit
20	18		or local registration official;
21	19		(2) a death record is public information and available
22	20		to the public on and after the 25th anniversary of the date of death
23	21		as shown on the record filed with the vital statistics unit or local
24	22		registration official, except that if the decedent is unidentified,
25	23		the death record is public information and available to the public
26	24		on and after the first anniversary of the date of death;
27	25		(3) a general birth index or a general death index
28	26		established or maintained by the vital statistics unit or a local
29	27		registration official is public information and available to the
30	28		public to the extent the index relates to a birth record or death
31	29		record that is public information and available to the public under
32	30		Subdivision (1) or (2);
33	31		(4) a summary birth index or a summary death index
34	32		prepared or maintained by the vital statistics unit or a local
35	33		registration official is public information and available to the
36	34		public; and
37	35		(5) a birth or death record is available to the chief
38	36		executive officer of a home-rule municipality or the officer's
39	37		designee if:
40	38		(A) the record is used only to identify a
41	39		property owner or other person to whom the municipality is required
42	40		to give notice when enforcing a state statute or an ordinance;
43	41		(B) the municipality has exercised due diligence
44	42		in the manner described by Section 54.035(e), Local Government
45	43		Code, to identify the person; and
46	44		(C) the officer or designee signs a
47	45		confidentiality agreement that requires that:
48	46		(i) the information not be disclosed
49	47		outside the office of the officer or designee, or within the office
50	48		for a purpose other than the purpose described by Paragraph (A);
51	49		(ii) the information be labeled as
52	50		confidential;
53	51		(iii) the information be kept securely; and
54	52		(iv) the number of copies made of the
55	53		information or the notes taken from the information that implicate
56	54		the confidential nature of the information be controlled, with all
57	55		copies or notes that are not destroyed or returned remaining
58	56		confidential and subject to the confidentiality agreement.
59	57		(d) For the purposes of fulfilling the terms of the
60	58		agreement in Subsection (c), the Genealogical Society of Utah shall
61	59		have access to birth records on and after the 50th anniversary of
62	60		the date of birth as shown on the record filed with the bureau of
63	61		vital statistics or local registration official, but such birth
64		-	records shall not be made available to the public until the ~~90th~~
	62	+	records shall not be made available to the public until the 125th
65	63		[75th] anniversary of the date of birth as shown on the record.
66	64		SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to the
67	65		release of a birth record on or after the effective date of this
68	66		Act, regardless of whether the birth record was a public record
69	67		before the effective date of this Act under the law as it existed
70	68		immediately before the effective date of this Act.
71	69		SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
72	70		a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
73	71		provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
74	72		Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
75	73		Act takes effect September 1, 2019.