Bill Text: TX HB3189 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to the reporting of and access to information related to court-ordered prescription drug substance abuse treatment; providing a criminal penalty.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-05-09 - Referred to Criminal Justice [HB3189 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB3189-Engrossed.html

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By: Bonnen of Brazoria H.B. No. 3189

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the reporting of and access to information related to
court-ordered prescription drug substance abuse treatment;
providing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 42A, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 42A.3035 to read as
follows:
Art. 42A.3035. REPORTING. (a) A judge who requires as a
condition of community supervision that a defendant serve a term of
confinement and treatment in a substance abuse felony punishment
facility or participate in substance abuse treatment services in a
program or facility approved or licensed by the Department of State
Health Services to receive treatment for prescription drug
substance abuse shall, if the defendant consents to the release of
the information, submit to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy:
(1) the name and date of birth of the defendant; and
(2) the name of the substance or substances abused by
the defendant.
(b) A defendant may not be:
(1) required as a condition of community supervision
to consent to the release of information under Subsection (a); or
(2) excluded from a substance abuse treatment facility
or program based on the defendant's failure to consent to the
release of the information.
SECTION 2. Chapter 121, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 121.003 to read as follows:
Sec. 121.003. REPORTING. (a) A judge who requires a
defendant to receive treatment for prescription drug substance
abuse as a condition of participation in a specialty court under
this subtitle shall submit to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy:
(1) the name and date of birth of the defendant;
(2) the name of the specialty court in which the
defendant is participating;
(3) the date the defendant began participating in the
specialty court; and
(4) if the defendant consents to the release of the
information, the name of the substance or substances abused by the
defendant.
(b) A defendant may not be:
(1) required as a condition of participation in a
specialty court to consent to the release of information under
Subsection (a)(4); or
(2) excluded from a substance abuse treatment facility
or program based on the defendant's failure to consent to the
release of the information.
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 462, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 462.0691 to read as follows:
Sec. 462.0691. REPORTING. (a) A judge who enters an order
for court-ordered treatment under this chapter for prescription
drug substance abuse shall, if the patient consents to the release
of the information, submit to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy:
(1) the name and date of birth of the patient; and
(2) the name of the substance or substances abused by
the patient.
(b) A patient may not be excluded from a substance abuse
treatment facility or program based on the patient's failure to
consent to the release of information under Subsection (a).
SECTION 4. Section 481.076, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (a-3), (a-4), (c), (i), and
(j) and adding Subsection (a-6) to read as follows:
(a) The board may not permit any person to have access to
information submitted to the board under Article 42A.3035, Code of
Criminal Procedure, Section 121.003, Government Code, or Section
462.0691, 481.074(q), or 481.075 except:
(1) an investigator for the board, the Texas Medical
Board, the Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners, the
State Board of Dental Examiners, the State Board of Veterinary
Medical Examiners, the Texas Board of Nursing, or the Texas
Optometry Board;
(2) an authorized officer or member of the department
or authorized employee of the board engaged in the administration,
investigation, or enforcement of this chapter or another law
governing illicit drugs in this state or another state;
(3) the department on behalf of a law enforcement or
prosecutorial official engaged in the administration,
investigation, or enforcement of this chapter or another law
governing illicit drugs in this state or another state;
(4) a medical examiner conducting an investigation;
(5) a pharmacist or a pharmacy technician, as defined
by Section 551.003, Occupations Code, acting at the direction of a
pharmacist or a practitioner who is a physician, dentist,
veterinarian, podiatrist, optometrist, or advanced practice nurse
or is a physician assistant described by Section 481.002(39)(D) or
an employee or other agent of a practitioner acting at the direction
of a practitioner and is inquiring about a recent Schedule II, III,
IV, or V prescription history or any prescription drug substance
abuse treatment of a particular patient of the practitioner,
provided that the person accessing the information is authorized to
do so under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
of 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-191) and rules adopted under that Act;
(6) a pharmacist or practitioner who is inquiring
about the person's own dispensing or prescribing activity; [or]
(7) one or more states or an association of states with
which the board has an interoperability agreement, as provided by
Subsection (j); or
(8) the judge of a specialty court as defined by
Section 121.001, Government Code, or the judge's designee, in the
manner prescribed by Subsection (a-6).
(a-3) The board shall ensure that the department has
unrestricted access at all times to information submitted to the
board under Article 42A.3035, Code of Criminal Procedure, Section
121.003, Government Code, and Sections 462.0691, 481.074(q), and
481.075. The department's access to the information shall be
provided through a secure electronic portal under the exclusive
control of the department. The department shall pay all expenses
associated with the electronic portal.
(a-4) A law enforcement or prosecutorial official described
by Subsection (a)(3) may obtain information submitted to the board
under Article 42A.3035, Code of Criminal Procedure, Section
121.003, Government Code, or Section 462.0691, 481.074(q), or
481.075 only if the official submits a request to the department.
If the department finds that the official has shown proper need for
the information, the department shall provide access to the
relevant information.
(a-6) On request by a judge of a specialty court as defined
by Section 121.001, Government Code, or the judge's designee, the
board shall provide to the judge or the judge's designee
information submitted to the board under Article 42A.3035, Code of
Criminal Procedure, Section 121.003, Government Code, or Section
462.0691, 481.074(q), or 481.075 that relates to a current or
prospective specialty court program participant.
(c) The board by rule shall design and implement a system
for submission of information to the board by electronic or other
means and for retrieval of information submitted to the board under
this section and Article 42A.3035, Code of Criminal Procedure,
Section 121.003, Government Code, and Sections 462.0691, 481.074,
and 481.075. The board shall use automated information security
techniques and devices to preclude improper access to the
information. The board shall submit the system design to the
director and the Texas Medical Board for review and comment a
reasonable time before implementation of the system and shall
comply with the comments of those agencies unless it is
unreasonable to do so.
(i) Information submitted to the board under Article
42A.3035, Code of Criminal Procedure, Section 121.003, Government
Code, or Section 462.0691, 481.074(q), or 481.075 is confidential
and remains confidential regardless of whether the board permits
access to the information under this section.
(j) The board may enter into an interoperability agreement
with one or more states or an association of states authorizing the
board to access prescription monitoring information maintained or
collected by the other state or states or the association,
including information maintained on a central database such as the
National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Prescription Monitoring
Program InterConnect. Pursuant to an interoperability agreement,
the board may authorize the prescription monitoring program of one
or more states or an association of states to access information
submitted to the board under Article 42A.3035, Code of Criminal
Procedure, Section 121.003, Government Code, and Sections
462.0691, 481.074(q), and 481.075, including by submitting or
sharing information through a central database such as the National
Association of Boards of Pharmacy Prescription Monitoring Program
InterConnect.
SECTION 5. Section 481.0761(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The board shall by rule establish and revise as
necessary a standardized database format that may be used by a
pharmacy or court to transmit the information required by Article
42A.3035, Code of Criminal Procedure, Section 121.003, Government
Code, and Sections 462.0691, 481.074(q), and 481.075(i) to the
board electronically or to deliver the information on storage
media, including disks, tapes, and cassettes.
SECTION 6. Section 481.127(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
gives, permits, or obtains unauthorized access to information
submitted to the board under Article 42A.3035, Code of Criminal
Procedure, Section 121.003, Government Code, or Section 462.0691,
481.074(q), or 481.075.
SECTION 7. (a) Article 42A.3035, Code of Criminal
Procedure, as added by this Act, applies to a defendant placed on
community supervision on or after the effective date of this Act,
regardless of whether the offense for which the defendant was
placed on community supervision was committed before, on, or after
the effective date of this Act.
(b) Section 121.003, Government Code, as added by this Act,
applies to a person who, on or after the effective date of this Act,
enters a specialty court program under Subtitle K, Title 2,
Government Code, regardless of whether the person committed the
offense for which the person enters the program before, on, or after
the effective date of this Act.
(c) Section 462.0691, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to an order for court-ordered treatment
entered on or after the effective date of this Act. An order
entered before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
in effect on the date the order was entered, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.