1-1     By:  Moncrief                                         S.B. No. 1217
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 11, 1999; March 11, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
 1-4     April 19, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
 1-5     Nays 0; April 19, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the disclosure of certain information concerning the
 1-9     mental health of a person detained in a correctional facility.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Section 611.004, Health and
1-12     Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-13           (a)  A professional may disclose confidential information
1-14     only:
1-15                 (1)  to a governmental agency if the disclosure is
1-16     required or authorized by law;
1-17                 (2)  to medical or law enforcement personnel if the
1-18     professional determines that there is a probability of imminent
1-19     physical injury by the patient to the patient or others or there is
1-20     a probability of immediate mental or emotional injury to the
1-21     patient;
1-22                 (3)  to qualified personnel for management audits,
1-23     financial audits, program evaluations, or research, in accordance
1-24     with Subsection (b);
1-25                 (4)  to a person who has the written consent of the
1-26     patient, or a parent if the patient is a minor, or a guardian if
1-27     the patient has been adjudicated as incompetent to manage the
1-28     patient's personal affairs;
1-29                 (5)  to the patient's personal representative if the
1-30     patient is deceased;
1-31                 (6)  to individuals, corporations, or governmental
1-32     agencies involved in paying or collecting fees for mental or
1-33     emotional health services provided by a professional;
1-34                 (7)  to other professionals and personnel under the
1-35     professionals' direction who participate in the diagnosis,
1-36     evaluation, or treatment of the patient;
1-37                 (8)  in an official legislative inquiry relating to a
1-38     state hospital or state school as provided by Subsection (c);
1-39                 (9)  to designated persons or [health care] personnel
1-40     of a correctional facility [penal or other custodial institution]
1-41     in which a person [the patient] is detained if the disclosure is
1-42     for the sole purpose of providing treatment and health care to the
1-43     person in custody [patient];
1-44                 (10)  to an employee or agent of the professional who
1-45     requires mental health care information to provide mental health
1-46     care services or in complying with statutory, licensing, or
1-47     accreditation requirements, if the professional has taken
1-48     appropriate action to ensure that the employee or agent:
1-49                       (A)  will not use or disclose the information for
1-50     any other purposes; and
1-51                       (B)  will take appropriate steps to protect the
1-52     information; or
1-53                 (11)  to satisfy a request for medical records of a
1-54     deceased or incompetent person pursuant to Section 4.01(e), Medical
1-55     Liability and Insurance Improvement Act of Texas (Article 4590i,
1-56     Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
1-57           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-58           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-59     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-60     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-61     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-62     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-63                                  * * * * *