S.B. 1388 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


S.B. 1388
By: Armbrister
State Affairs
Committee Report (Unamended)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, the addresses, home telephone numbers, social security
numbers, and personal family information of current employees of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) are protected from disclosure.
Former employees of TDCJ (and/or its predecessor in function) need to have
the same information protected from disclosure from inmates they have
interacted with on a daily basis.  Without a change in the law, inmates
can access this information and use it to threaten former employees.  The
purpose of Senate Bill 1388 is to provide that under certain
circumstances, former employees will be given protection from disclosure
of sensitive personnel information that is similar to the protection that
is now provided to current employees. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the committee that this bill does not expressly grant
any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department,
institution, or agency. 

ANALYSIS

Senate Bill 1388 amends Section 552.117, Government Code, to extend the
exception from public disclosure of the home address, home telephone
number, social security number, or any information revealing whether the
person has family members, to former employees of the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice (TDCJ), or of the predecessor in function of the
department or any division of the department.   

The bill also amends Section 552.1175, Government Code, to provide that
the same information as described above is confidential if the individual
to whom the information relates: 

_chooses to restrict public access to the information, and 
_notifies the governmental body of the individual's choice on a form
provided by the governmental body, accompanied by the individual's status.

The bill provides that the exception from public disclosure under Section
552.117 and the confidentiality provisions of Section 552.1175 do not
extend to documents filed with a county clerk and documents filed with a
district clerk. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2003.  The change in law made by this Act to
Sections 552.117 and 552.1175, Government Code, applies to information
about former employees of the TDCJ or of the predecessor in function of
the department or any of the department's divisions without regard to
whether the information was created or acquired on, before, or after the
effective date of the Act.