By: Stiles H.B. No. 2014
73R6199 E
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the rights of state prisoners in various civil cases.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 21, Administrative Procedure and Texas
1-5 Register Act (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
1-6 amended by adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:
1-7 (j) Sections 12 through 20 of this Act do not apply to rules
1-8 or internal procedures of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
1-9 applicable to prisoners or any actions taken under such rules or
1-10 procedures.
1-11 SECTION 2. Section 501.014, Government Code, is amended by
1-12 adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
1-13 (e) Any money in an inmate's trust account shall be subject
1-14 to levy by a court or holding by the institutional division to pay
1-15 all restitution, fines, sanctions, alimony, and child support
1-16 ordered by a court against a prisoner before paying any such money
1-17 into inmates' trust accounts. The department of criminal justice
1-18 shall not be civilly liable for holding or failing to hold funds
1-19 under this subsection.
1-20 SECTION 3. Section 3(a), Chapter 424, Acts of the 63rd
1-21 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 6252-17a, Vernon's
1-22 Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-23 Sec. 3. Public information. (a) All information collected,
1-24 assembled, or maintained by or for governmental bodies, except in
2-1 those situations where the governmental body does not have either a
2-2 right of access to or ownership of the information, pursuant to law
2-3 or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official
2-4 business is public information and available to the public during
2-5 normal business hours of any governmental body, with the following
2-6 exceptions only:
2-7 (1) information deemed confidential by law, either
2-8 Constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision;
2-9 (2) information in personnel files, the disclosure of
2-10 which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
2-11 privacy, and transcripts from institutions of higher education
2-12 maintained in the personnel files of professional public school
2-13 employees; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be
2-14 construed to exempt from disclosure the degree obtained and the
2-15 curriculum on such transcripts of professional public school
2-16 employees, and further provided that all information in personnel
2-17 files of an individual employee within a governmental body is to be
2-18 made available to that individual employee or his designated
2-19 representative as is public information under this Act;
2-20 (3) information relating to litigation of a criminal
2-21 or civil nature and settlement negotiations, to which the state or
2-22 political subdivision is, or may be, a party, or to which an
2-23 officer or employee of the state or political subdivision, as a
2-24 consequence of his office or employment, is or may be a party, that
2-25 the attorney general or the respective attorneys of the various
2-26 political subdivisions has determined should be withheld from
2-27 public inspection;
3-1 (4) information which, if released, would give
3-2 advantage to competitors or bidders;
3-3 (5) information pertaining to the location of real or
3-4 personal property for public purposes prior to public announcement
3-5 of the project, and information pertaining to appraisals or
3-6 purchase price of real or personal property for public purposes
3-7 prior to the formal award of contracts therefor;
3-8 (6) drafts and working papers involved in the
3-9 preparation of proposed legislation;
3-10 (7) matters in which the duty of the Attorney General
3-11 of Texas or an attorney of a political subdivision, to his client,
3-12 pursuant to the Rules and Canons of Ethics of the State Bar of
3-13 Texas are prohibited from disclosure, or which by order of a court
3-14 are prohibited from disclosure;
3-15 (8) records of law enforcement agencies and
3-16 prosecutors that deal with the detection, investigation, and
3-17 prosecution of crime and the internal records and notations of such
3-18 law enforcement agencies and prosecutors which are maintained for
3-19 internal use in matters relating to law enforcement and
3-20 prosecution;
3-21 (9) private correspondence and communications of an
3-22 elected office holder relating to matters the disclosure of which
3-23 would constitute an invasion of privacy;
3-24 (10) trade secrets and commercial or financial
3-25 information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential
3-26 by statute or judicial decision;
3-27 (11) inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or
4-1 letters which would not be available by law to a party in
4-2 litigation with the agency;
4-3 (12) information contained in or related to
4-4 examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf
4-5 of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or
4-6 supervision of financial institutions, and/or securities, as that
4-7 term is defined in the Texas Securities Act;
4-8 (13) geological and geophysical information and data
4-9 including maps concerning wells, except information filed in
4-10 connection with an application or proceeding before any agency or
4-11 an electric log confidential under Subchapter M, Chapter 91,
4-12 Natural Resources Code;
4-13 (14) student records at educational institutions
4-14 funded wholly, or in part, by state revenue; but such records shall
4-15 be made available upon request of educational institution
4-16 personnel, the student involved, that student's parent, legal
4-17 guardian, or spouse or a person conducting a child abuse
4-18 investigation required by Section 34.05, Family Code;
4-19 (15) birth and death records maintained by the Bureau
4-20 of Vital Statistics of the Texas Department of Health, except that:
4-21 (A) a birth record is public information and
4-22 available to the public on and after the 50th anniversary of the
4-23 date on which the record is filed with the Bureau of Vital
4-24 Statistics or local registration official; and
4-25 (B) a death record is public information and
4-26 available to the public on and after the 25th anniversary of the
4-27 date on which the record is filed with the Bureau of Vital
5-1 Statistics or local registration official;
5-2 (16) the audit working papers of the State Auditor;
5-3 (17) information relating to:
5-4 (A) the home addresses or home telephone numbers
5-5 of each official or employee or each former official or employee of
5-6 a governmental body except as otherwise provided by Section 3A of
5-7 this Act, or of peace officers as defined by Article 2.12, Code of
5-8 Criminal Procedure, 1965, as amended, or by Section 51.212, Texas
5-9 Education Code; <or>
5-10 (B) the home addresses, home telephone numbers,
5-11 or social security numbers of employees of the Texas Department of
5-12 Criminal Justice, or the home or employment addresses or telephone
5-13 numbers or the names or social security numbers of their family
5-14 members; or
5-15 (C) the home address or home telephone number or
5-16 social security number of an individual;
5-17 (18) information contained on or derived from
5-18 triplicate prescription forms filed with the Department of Public
5-19 Safety pursuant to Section 481.075, Health and Safety Code;
5-20 (19) photographs that depict a peace officer as
5-21 defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or a security
5-22 officer commissioned under Section 51.212, Education Code, the
5-23 release of which would endanger the life or physical safety of the
5-24 officer unless:
5-25 (A) the officer is under indictment or charged
5-26 with an offense by information; or
5-27 (B) the officer is a party in a fire or police
6-1 civil service hearing or a case in arbitration; or
6-2 (C) the photograph is introduced as evidence in
6-3 a judicial proceeding;
6-4 (20) rare books and original manuscripts which were
6-5 not created or maintained in the conduct of official business of a
6-6 governmental body and which are held by any private or public
6-7 archival and manuscript repository for the purposes of historical
6-8 research;
6-9 (21) oral history interviews, personal papers,
6-10 unpublished letters, and organizational records of nongovernmental
6-11 entities, which were not created or maintained in the conduct of
6-12 official business of a governmental body and which are held by any
6-13 private or public archival and manuscript repository for the
6-14 purposes of historical research, to the extent that the archival
6-15 and manuscript repository and the donor of the interviews, papers,
6-16 letters, and records may agree to limit disclosure of the item;
6-17 (22) curriculum objectives and test items developed by
6-18 educational institutions that are funded wholly or in part by state
6-19 revenue and test items developed by licensing agencies or
6-20 governmental bodies; <and>
6-21 (23) the names of applicants for the position of chief
6-22 executive officer of institutions of higher education, except that
6-23 the governing body of the institution of higher education must give
6-24 public notice of the name or names of the finalists being
6-25 considered for the position at least 21 days prior to the meeting
6-26 at which final action or vote is to be taken on the employment of
6-27 the individual; and
7-1 (24) information requested from the Texas Department
7-2 of Criminal Justice, Texas Board of Criminal Justice, or Texas
7-3 Board of Pardons and Paroles by any person who is in the custody
7-4 thereof.
7-5 SECTION 4. Chapter 30, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
7-6 amended by adding Section 30.007 to read as follows:
7-7 Sec. 30.007. PROCEEDINGS IN INMATE LITIGATION. (a) In
7-8 civil claims in which an inmate of the institutional division of
7-9 the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is a party, trial courts
7-10 may:
7-11 (1) conduct any proceedings at the prison unit or in
7-12 the county in which the inmate is confined or at which more than
7-13 one witness resides or works; and
7-14 (2) sign or enter any order pertaining to such
7-15 proceedings.
7-16 (b) This section extends to proceedings in multicounty
7-17 districts as provided for in Section 24.017, Government Code.
7-18 SECTION 5. (a) Article 56.02, Code of Criminal Procedure,
7-19 is amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
7-20 (e) A person who exercises rights under this Act by giving
7-21 information to a government agency shall have absolute immunity
7-22 from liability for any communication tort committed. Agencies that
7-23 make decisions based upon such information should consider this
7-24 immunity when assigning weight to such information contained in
7-25 unsworn declarations. The information given to crime victims under
7-26 Subsection (a)(7) of this article should include the information
7-27 that unsworn declarations will be given less weight than sworn
8-1 declarations, that sworn declarations are made under penalty of
8-2 perjury, and how sworn declarations may be made.
8-3 (b) The legislative intent of subsection (a) of this section
8-4 is to prevent criminals and accused criminals from suing crime
8-5 victims, their guardians, and their relatives for exercising their
8-6 rights under the Crime Victims' Rights Act. This Act in no way
8-7 reflects upon whether a common law immunity for such communications
8-8 exists, although the legislature sincerely hopes that such an
8-9 immunity exists. If such an immunity does exist, this statutory
8-10 immunity is cumulative in effect.
8-11 SECTION 6. Section 101.053, Civil Practice and Remedies
8-12 Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
8-13 (c) This chapter does not apply to a claim based on the
8-14 determination to parole or release a prisoner from the
8-15 institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
8-16 SECTION 7. Section 104.0035(a), Civil Practice and Remedies
8-17 Code, is amended to read as follows:
8-18 (a) The state shall indemnify a person for reasonable
8-19 attorney's fees incurred in defense of a criminal prosecution
8-20 against the person if:
8-21 (1) the person is covered by Section 104.001;
8-22 (2) the attorney general determines that the conduct
8-23 for which the person is criminally prosecuted could give rise to a
8-24 civil cause of action covered by Section 104.002;
8-25 (3) the person is found not guilty after a trial or
8-26 appeal or the complaint, information, or indictment is dismissed
8-27 without a plea of guilty or nolo contendere being entered, or the
9-1 person is no billed by a grand jury; and
9-2 (4) the attorney general determines that the
9-3 complaint, information, or indictment presented against the person
9-4 was dismissed because:
9-5 (A) the presentment was made on mistake, false
9-6 information, or other similar basis, indicating absence of probable
9-7 cause to believe, at the time of the dismissal, the person
9-8 committed the offense; or
9-9 (B) the complaint, information, or indictment
9-10 was void.
9-11 SECTION 8. Section 501.006, Government Code, is amended by
9-12 adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
9-13 (i) Neither the state nor its agencies or departments shall
9-14 be liable for any costs or expenses incurred by an inmate while the
9-15 inmate is on furlough or reprieve, unless the state contracts in
9-16 writing with the entity rendering the service for or to the inmate.
9-17 A contract is valid only if it specifies the service to be rendered
9-18 and the cost to be incurred by the state and is approved by the
9-19 state prior to rendition of the service.
9-20 SECTION 9. This Act applies only to a cause of action that
9-21 arises on or after the effective date of this Act. A cause of
9-22 action that arises before that date is governed by the law in
9-23 effect when the cause of action arose, and that law is continued in
9-24 effect for that purpose.
9-25 SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
9-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
9-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
10-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
10-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
10-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
10-4 passage, and it is so enacted.