Bill Text: TX HR2528 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Suspending limitations on conference committee jurisdiction, H.B. No. 555.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-25 - Filed [HR2528 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HR2528-Introduced.html
85R34012 YDB-D | ||
By: Clardy | H.R. No. 2528 |
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BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of | ||
Texas, 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, That House Rule 13, | ||
Section 9(a), be suspended in part as provided by House Rule 13, | ||
Section 9(f), to enable the conference committee appointed to | ||
resolve the differences on House Bill 555 (an additional fee for | ||
issuing a marriage license to applicants who are not residents of | ||
this state) to consider and take action on the following matter: | ||
House Rule 13, Section 9(a)(4), is suspended to permit the | ||
committee to add text on a matter not included in either the house | ||
or senate version of the bill by adding the following appropriately | ||
numbered section: | ||
SECTION ____. (a) 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. | ||
(b) 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. | ||
(c) 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. | ||
(d) 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. | ||
(e) Except as otherwise provided by this section, Section | ||
51.808, Government Code, as added by this section, 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. | ||
Explanation: The change is necessary to ensure that | ||
technology advances 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 stored in a state court | ||
document database and accessible by the public. |