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

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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

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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.