Bill Text: TX HB3453 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to access to certain litigation, law enforcement, corrections, and prosecutorial records under the public information law.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-22 - Referred to State Affairs [HB3453 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB3453-Introduced.html
87R12342 MCK-D | ||
By: White | H.B. No. 3453 |
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relating to access to certain litigation, law enforcement, | ||
corrections, and prosecutorial records under the public | ||
information law. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 552.103, Government Code, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 552.103. EXCEPTION: NAMES OF INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN | ||
LITIGATION OR SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS INVOLVING THE STATE OR A | ||
POLITICAL SUBDIVISION. | ||
SECTION 2. Sections 552.103(a) and (c), Government Code, | ||
are amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) Information [ |
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civil or criminal nature to which the state or a political | ||
subdivision is or may be a party or to which an officer or employee | ||
of the state or a political subdivision, as a consequence of the | ||
person's office or employment, is or may be a party is subject to | ||
the requirements of Section 552.021 except that the names of the | ||
persons involved in the litigation may be withheld. | ||
(c) The name of a person involved in litigation involving a | ||
governmental body or an officer or employee of a governmental body | ||
may be withheld under Subsection (a) [ |
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the date that the requestor applies to the officer for public | ||
information for access to or duplication of the information. For | ||
purposes of this section, litigation is considered reasonably | ||
anticipated only if a person with an alleged claim, or that person's | ||
attorney, has: | ||
(1) threatened in writing to take legal action against | ||
the governmental body; or | ||
(2) made a written demand for compensation as a result | ||
of an alleged claim against the governmental body. | ||
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 552.108, Government Code, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 552.108. EXCEPTION: CERTAIN NAMES IN LAW ENFORCEMENT, | ||
CORRECTIONS, AND PROSECUTORIAL INFORMATION. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 552.108, Government Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (d) to read | ||
as follows: | ||
(a) Information held by a law enforcement agency or | ||
prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or | ||
prosecution of crime is subject to the requirements of Section | ||
552.021 except that the name of a person being investigated or | ||
prosecuted for a crime may be withheld [ |
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(1) release of the information would interfere with | ||
the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime; | ||
(2) it is information that deals with the detection, | ||
investigation, or prosecution of crime only in relation to an | ||
investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred | ||
adjudication; | ||
(3) it is information relating to a threat against a | ||
peace officer or detention officer collected or disseminated under | ||
Section 411.048; or | ||
(4) it is information that: | ||
(A) is prepared by an attorney representing the | ||
state in anticipation of or in the course of preparing for criminal | ||
litigation; or | ||
(B) reflects the mental impressions or legal | ||
reasoning of an attorney representing the state. | ||
(b) An internal record or notation of a law enforcement | ||
agency or prosecutor that is maintained for internal use in matters | ||
relating to law enforcement or prosecution is subject to the | ||
requirements of Section 552.021 except that the name of a person who | ||
is part of a law enforcement investigation or who is being | ||
prosecuted for a crime may be withheld [ |
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(1) release of the internal record or notation would | ||
interfere with law enforcement or prosecution; | ||
(2) the internal record or notation relates to law | ||
enforcement only in relation to an investigation that did not | ||
result in conviction or deferred adjudication; or | ||
(3) the internal record or notation: | ||
(A) is prepared by an attorney representing the | ||
state in anticipation of or in the course of preparing for criminal | ||
litigation; or | ||
(B) reflects the mental impressions or legal | ||
reasoning of an attorney representing the state. | ||
(d) The name of a person may not be withheld under this | ||
section in response to a written request for the information made | ||
by: | ||
(1) a person who is the subject of the information, | ||
record, or notation; or | ||
(2) if the person described by Subdivision (1) is | ||
deceased, the person's spouse, child, or parent, an administrator | ||
of the person's estate, or any of their attorneys. | ||
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections | ||
552.103 and 552.108, Government Code, apply only to a request for | ||
information that is received by a governmental body or an officer or | ||
employee of a governmental body on or after the effective date of | ||
this Act. A request for information that was received before the | ||
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the | ||
date the request was received, and the former law is continued in | ||
effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |