Bill Text: TX HB3453 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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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

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87R12342 MCK-D
By: White H.B. No. 3453

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
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 [is excepted from the requirements of
Section 552.021 if it is information] relating to litigation of a
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) [Information relating to
litigation involving a governmental body or an officer or employee
of a governmental body is excepted from disclosure under Subsection
(a)] only if the litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated on
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 [excepted from the
requirements of Section 552.021] if:
(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 [excepted from the
requirements of Section 552.021] if:
(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.