By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 1102
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to access to certain education, law enforcement, and
health records under the public information law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 552.026, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 552.026. EDUCATION RECORDS. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), this [This] chapter does not require the release of
information contained in education records of an educational agency
or institution, except in conformity with the Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, Sec. 513, Pub. L. No. 93-380, 20
U.S.C. Sec. 1232g.
(b) A governmental body shall release records related to
school attendance of a person:
(1) who is 18 years of age or older;
(2) who is deceased or incapacitated; and
(3) against whom an indictment:
(A) has been filed charging the person with an
offense under Chapter 19, Penal Code, in a mass shooting; or
(B) could have been filed charging the person
with an offense under Chapter 19, Penal Code, in a mass shooting if
the person was not deceased.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 65.202, Family Code, truancy
records and files created under Chapter 65, Family Code, for a
person described by Subsection (b) are subject to disclosure under
Section 552.021.
(d) In this section, "mass shooting" means a person's
discharge of a firearm to cause death to four or more persons:
(1) during the same criminal transaction; or
(2) during different criminal transactions but
pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 552.030 to read as follows:
Sec. 552.030. RIGHT OF ACCESS TO TOXICOLOGY INFORMATION
RELATING TO MASS SHOOTINGS. (a) In this section, "mass shooting"
has the meaning assigned by Section 552.026.
(b) As soon as practicable, but not later than the 180th day
after the date a mass shooting occurs, a governmental body shall
make public the toxicology reports relating to the mass shooting in
the governmental body's possession.
SECTION 3. Section 181.006, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 181.006. PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION NOT PUBLIC. (a)
Notwithstanding Sections 181.004 and 181.051, for a covered entity
that is a governmental unit, an individual's protected health
information:
(1) includes any information that reflects that an
individual received health care from the covered entity; and
(2) except as provided by Subsection (b), is not public
information and is not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
Government Code.
(b) A covered entity that is a governmental unit shall
release all records and files for an individual described by
Sections 552.026(b)(2) and (3), Government Code, related to the
individual's enrollment in a state health plan that receives
funding under 42 U.S.C. Section 1397aa et seq.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply to
information produced or maintained before, on, or after the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.