By McClendon                                            H.B. No. 46
         77R308 JD-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the availability of governmental information about
 1-3     motor vehicle accidents.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 550, Transportation Code,
 1-6     is amended by adding Section 550.0651 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 550.0651.  RELEASE OF OTHER INFORMATION RELATING TO
 1-8     ACCIDENTS.  (a)  This section applies to information, other than an
 1-9     accident report covered by Section 550.065, that is held by the
1-10     department or another governmental entity and that relates to a
1-11     motor vehicle accident, including:
1-12                 (1)  information reported under Chapter 772, Health and
1-13     Safety Code;
1-14                 (2)  information contained in a dispatch log, a towing
1-15     record, an accident survey, or a record of a 9-1-1 service
1-16     provider; and
1-17                 (3)  the part of any other record that includes
1-18     information about the date of the accident, the name of any person
1-19     involved in the accident, or the specific location of the accident.
1-20           (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), the information is
1-21     privileged and only for the confidential use for official purposes
1-22     of:
1-23                 (1)  the department or the other governmental entity;
1-24     and
 2-1                 (2)  an agency of the United States, this state, or a
 2-2     local government of this state.
 2-3           (c)  On written request and payment of any required fee,
 2-4     which may not exceed the greater of $4 or the actual cost of making
 2-5     the information available, the department or the other governmental
 2-6     entity shall release the information to:
 2-7                 (1)  an entity described by Subsection (b);
 2-8                 (2)  the agency or entity that employs the person who
 2-9     prepared or compiled the information;
2-10                 (3)  the court in which a case involving a person
2-11     involved in the accident is pending, if the information is
2-12     subpoenaed; or
2-13                 (4)  a person who provides the department or the other
2-14     governmental entity with two or more of the following:
2-15                       (A)  the date of the accident;
2-16                       (B)  the name of any person involved in the
2-17     accident; or
2-18                       (C)  the specific location of the accident.
2-19           (d)  The department or the other governmental entity shall
2-20     request information on a written form adopted by the department or
2-21     the other governmental entity to determine whether the person or
2-22     entity requesting the information is entitled to receive the
2-23     information under Subsection (c).
2-24           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.