Bill Text: TX HB1258 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Engrossed


Bill Title: Relating to information publicly available in a state court document database; authorizing a fee.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 32-12)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-05-18 - Referred to State Affairs [HB1258 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB1258-Engrossed.html
 
 
  By: Clardy, Price, Thompson of Harris, H.B. No. 1258
      Nevárez, Holland, et al.
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to information publicly available in a state court
  document database; authorizing a fee.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter I, Chapter 51, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 51.808 to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.808.  STATE COURT DOCUMENT DATABASE; INFORMATION
  AVAILABLE; IMMUNITY. (a) The purpose of this section is to ensure
  that advances in technology allowing the electronic transmission,
  retrieval, and storage of court documents do not compromise the
  integrity of official court records or violate the laws, rules, and
  court orders requiring the nondisclosure of sensitive or
  confidential information contained in the documents or in copies of
  those documents that are stored in a state court document database
  and accessible by the public.
         (b)  In this section:
               (1)  "Accessible by the public" related to a court
  document in the state court document database means that a person,
  other than a court clerk with whom the document was filed, a judge
  with subject matter jurisdiction over the case, the judge's staff,
  an attorney of record in the case, or a person who maintains or
  operates the database, has access to the document through the
  system.
               (2)  "State court document database" means a database
  accessible by the public and established by the supreme court under
  this section for storing documents filed with a court in this state.
         (c)  A person who establishes, maintains, or operates the
  state court document database for the supreme court may allow
  public access to a document filed with a court in this state and
  included in the database only if:
               (1)  the database maintains each document included in a
  manner that complies with federal and state laws and orders of the
  court in which the document was filed related to confidentiality
  and nondisclosure of information; and
               (2)  a copy of each page of a document stored in the
  database clearly states that the document is an unofficial copy of a
  court document.
         (d)  The supreme court may authorize the Office of Court
  Administration of the Texas Judicial System to establish, operate,
  and maintain the state court document database under this section.
  The database may only include:
               (1)  court documents filed with a court on or after the
  60th day following the date on which the Office of Court
  Administration of the Texas Judicial System certifies to the
  supreme court that the database is fully operational and complies
  with this section; and
               (2)  any other documents authorized by the clerk of the
  court to be maintained in the state court document database.
         (e)  The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
  System shall collect a fee for each page or part of a page of a
  document electronically accessed by a member of the public from the
  state court document database and deliver the fees collected under
  this section to the clerk of the court in which the document was
  originally filed for deposit in the county general fund. The fee is
  the amount set by rule by the supreme court through negotiated
  rulemaking, conducted in accordance with Chapter 2008 as if the
  supreme court were a state agency in the executive branch of state
  government, between court clerks and the supreme court.
         (f)  A person who establishes, maintains, or operates the
  state court document database under this section must comply with
  the laws, rules, and court orders related to sensitive data and
  confidential documents that govern court documents in the custody
  of a court clerk.
         (g)  A court clerk is not responsible for the management or
  removal of documents from the state court document database and is
  not liable for damages resulting from the release of court
  documents if the clerk in good faith performs the duties as clerk as
  provided by law and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. The court
  clerk, the county in which the court is located, and the
  commissioners court of the county in which the court is located are
  immune from suit and from liability for the release or disclosure by
  a third party of information that is confidential or otherwise
  prohibited from disclosure by law, rule, or court order and that is
  accessed from the state database.
         SECTION 2.  Section 411.075(b), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (b)  Not later than 10 business days after receipt of
  relevant criminal history record information contained in an order
  or a copy of an order under Subsection (a), the department shall
  seal any criminal history record information maintained by the
  department that is the subject of the order.  The department shall
  also send all relevant criminal history record information
  contained in the order or a copy of the order by certified mail,
  return receipt requested, or secure electronic mail, electronic
  transmission, or facsimile transmission to the Office of Court
  Administration of the Texas Judicial System and to all:
               (1)  law enforcement agencies, jails or other detention
  facilities, magistrates, courts, prosecuting attorneys,
  correctional facilities, central state depositories of criminal
  records, and other officials or agencies or other entities of this
  state or of any political subdivision of this state;
               (2)  central federal depositories of criminal records
  that there is reason to believe have criminal history record
  information that is the subject of the order; and
               (3)  private entities that purchase criminal history
  record information from the department or that otherwise are likely
  to have criminal history record information that is subject to the
  order.
         SECTION 3.  Section 3(c), Article 55.02, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
         (c)  When the order of expunction is final, the clerk of the
  court shall send a certified copy of the order to the Crime Records
  Service of the Department of Public Safety, to the Office of Court
  Administration of the Texas Judicial System, and to each official
  or agency or other governmental entity of this state or of any
  political subdivision of this state named in the order. The
  certified copy of the order must be sent by secure electronic mail,
  electronic transmission, or facsimile transmission or otherwise by
  certified mail, return receipt requested. In sending the order to a
  governmental entity named in the order, the clerk may elect to
  substitute hand delivery for certified mail under this subsection,
  but the clerk must receive a receipt for that hand-delivered order.
         SECTION 4.  (a) Not later than December 1, 2017, the Texas
  Supreme Court shall adopt the rules, fees, and orders necessary to
  implement the changes in law made by this Act.
         (b)  Except as otherwise provided by this Act, Section
  51.808, Government Code, as added by this Act, applies to a court
  document filed before, on, or after the effective date of this Act
  unless a restriction on court documents filed before that date
  would impair a contract entered before that date.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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