Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1374 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	87R16672 MEW-F
2		-	By: Minjarez, Guillen H.B. No. 1374
3		-	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1374:
4		-	By: Krause C.S.H.B. No. 1374
	1	+	87R1861 MEW-F
	2	+	By: Minjarez H.B. No. 1374
5	3
6	4
7	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	6		AN ACT
9	7		relating to the confidential and privileged communications and
10	8		records of victims of certain sexual assault offenses.
11	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	10		SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter D, Chapter 420,
13	11		Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
14	12		SUBCHAPTER D. CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS AND RECORDS
15	13		SECTION 2. The heading to Section 420.071, Government Code,
16	14		is amended to read as follows:
17	15		Sec. 420.071. CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS AND RECORDS;
18	16		PRIVILEGE.
19	17		SECTION 3. Section 420.071, Government Code, is amended by
20	18		amending Subsections (a), (b), and (c) and adding Subsection (c-1)
21	19		to read as follows:
22	20		(a) Any [A] communication, including an oral or written
23	21		communication, between an advocate and a survivor [, or a person
24	22		claiming to be a survivor,] that is made in the course of advising,
25	23		counseling, or assisting [providing sexual assault advocacy
26	24		services to] the survivor is confidential [and may not be disclosed
27	25		except as provided by this subchapter].
28	26		(b) Any [A] record created by, provided to, or maintained by
29	27		an advocate is confidential if the record relates to the services
30	28		provided to a survivor or contains [of] the identity, personal
31	29		history, or background information of the [a] survivor or
32	30		information concerning the victimization of the [a] survivor [that
33	31		is created by or provided to an advocate or maintained by a sexual
34	32		assault program is confidential and may not be disclosed except as
35	33		provided by this subchapter].
36	34		(c) In any civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative
37	35		proceeding, subject to Section 420.072, a survivor has a privilege
38	36		to refuse to disclose and to prevent another from disclosing, for
39	37		any purpose, a communication or record that is confidential under
40	38		this section. [A person who receives information from a
41	39		confidential communication or record as described by this
42	40		subchapter may not disclose the information except to the extent
43	41		that disclosure is consistent with the authorized purposes for
44	42		which the information was obtained.]
45	43		(c-1) Except as provided by this subsection, the
46	44		unauthorized disclosure of a portion of a confidential
47	45		communication or record does not constitute a waiver of the
48	46		privilege provided by Subsection (c). If a portion of a
49	47		confidential communication or record is disclosed, a party to the
50	48		relevant court or administrative proceeding may make a motion
51	49		requesting that the privilege be waived with respect to the
52	50		disclosed portion. The court or administrative hearing officer, as
53	51		applicable, may determine that the privilege has been waived only
54	52		if:
55	53		(1) the disclosed portion is relevant to a disputed
56	54		matter at the proceeding; and
57	55		(2) waiver is necessary for a witness to be able to
58	56		respond to questioning concerning the disclosed portion.
59	57		SECTION 4. Section 420.072, Government Code, is amended to
60	58		read as follows:
61	59		Sec. 420.072. DISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION OR
62	60		RECORD [EXCEPTIONS]. (a) A communication or [, a] record [, or
63	61		evidence] that is confidential under Section 420.071 [this
64	62		subchapter] may only be disclosed [in court or in an administrative
65	63		proceeding] if:
66	64		(1) the communication or record [proceeding is brought
67	65		by the survivor against an advocate or a sexual assault program or
68	66		is a criminal proceeding or a certification revocation proceeding
69	67		in which disclosure] is relevant to the claims or defense of an
70	68		[the] advocate or sexual assault program in a proceeding brought by
71	69		the survivor against the advocate or program; [or]
72	70		(2) the survivor has waived the privilege established
73	71		under Section 420.071(c) with respect to the communication or
74	72		record;
75	73		(3) the survivor or other appropriate person consents
76	74		in writing to the disclosure as provided by Section 420.073;
77	75		(4) an [or 420.0735, as applicable.
78	76		[(b) A communication, a record, or evidence that is
79	77		confidential under this subchapter may be disclosed only to:
80	78		[(1) medical or law enforcement personnel if the]
81	79		advocate determines that, unless the disclosure is made, there is a
82	80		probability of:
83	81		(A) imminent physical danger to any person; or
84	82		(B) [for whom the communication, record, or
85	83		evidence is relevant or if there is a probability of] immediate
86	84		mental or emotional injury to the survivor;
87	85		(5) [(2) a governmental agency if] the disclosure is
88	86		necessary:
89	87		(A) to comply with:
90	88		(i) Chapter 261, Family Code; or
91	89		(ii) Chapter 48, Human Resources Code; or
92	90		(B) [required or authorized by law;
93	91		[(3) a qualified person to the extent necessary] for a
94	92		management audit, a financial audit, a program evaluation, or
95	93		research, except that a report of the [research,] audit, [or]
96	94		evaluation, or research may not directly or indirectly identify a
97	95		survivor;
98	96		[(4) a person authorized to receive the disclosure as
99	97		a result of written consent obtained under Section 420.073 or
100	98		420.0735;] or
101	99		(6) the disclosure is made to an employee or volunteer
102	100		of the sexual assault program after [(5)] an advocate or a person
103	101		under the supervision of a counseling supervisor who is
104	102		participating in the evaluation or counseling of or the provision
105	103		of services to [advocacy for] the survivor determines that the
106	104		disclosure is necessary to facilitate the provision of services to
107	105		the survivor.
108	106		(b) Regardless of whether written consent has been given by
109	107		a parent or legal guardian under Section 420.073(a), a person may
110	108		not disclose a [(c) A] communication or [, a] record [, or evidence]
111	109		that is confidential under Section 420.071 [this subchapter may not
112	110		be disclosed] to a parent or legal guardian of a survivor who is a
113	111		minor or to a guardian appointed under Title 3, Estates Code, of an
114	112		adult survivor, if applicable, if the person [an advocate or a
115	113		sexual assault program] knows or has reason to believe that the
116	114		parent or guardian of the survivor is a suspect or accomplice in the
117	115		sexual assault of the survivor.
118		-	(c) Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (b), the Texas
119		-	Rules of Evidence govern the disclosure of a communication or
120		-	record that is confidential under Section 420.071 in a criminal or
121		-	civil proceeding by an expert witness who relies on facts or data
122		-	from the communication or record to form the basis of the expert's
123		-	opinion.
124	116		SECTION 5. Section 420.074, Government Code, is repealed.
125	117		SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies to any
126	118		communication or record described by Section 420.071, Government
127	119		Code, as amended by this Act, regardless of the date the
128	120		communication is made or the record is created.
129	121		SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.