78R10164 JRD-D
By: Wohlgemuth, Flores, Hupp, Uresti, Berman H.B. No. 545
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 545:
By: Corte C.S.H.B. No. 545
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to military discharge records that are recorded with or
otherwise in the possession of a governmental body.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 552.140 to read as follows:
Sec. 552.140. MILITARY DISCHARGE RECORDS. (a) This
section applies only to a military veteran's Department of Defense
Form DD-214 or other military discharge record that is first
recorded with or that otherwise first comes into the possession of a
governmental body on or after September 1, 2003.
(b) The record is confidential for the 75 years following
the date it is recorded with or otherwise first comes into the
possession of a governmental body. During that period the
governmental body may permit inspection or copying of the record or
disclose information contained in the record only in accordance
with this section or in accordance with a court order.
(c) On request and the presentation of proper
identification, the following persons may inspect the military
discharge record or obtain from the governmental body free of
charge a copy or certified copy of the record:
(1) the veteran who is the subject of the record;
(2) the legal guardian of the veteran;
(3) the spouse or a child or parent of the veteran or,
if there is no living spouse, child, or parent, the nearest living
relative of the veteran;
(4) the personal representative of the estate of the
veteran;
(5) the person named by the veteran, or by a person
described by Subdivision (2), (3), or (4), in an appropriate power
of attorney executed in accordance with Chapter XII, Section 490,
Texas Probate Code; or
(6) another governmental body.
(d) A court that orders the release of information under
this section shall limit the further disclosure of the information
and the purposes for which the information may be used.
(e) A governmental body that obtains information from the
record shall limit the governmental body's use and disclosure of
the information to the purpose for which the information was
obtained.
SECTION 2. Section 192.002, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c)(1) This subsection applies only in relation to a
military discharge record that is recorded with a county clerk
under this section before September 1, 2003.
(2) The veteran who is the subject of the record or the
legal guardian of the veteran may direct, in writing, that the
county clerk destroy all copies of the record that the county clerk
makes readily available to the public for purposes of Section
191.006, such as paper copies of the record in the county courthouse
or a courthouse annex, microfilm or microfiche copies of the record
in the county courthouse or a courthouse annex, and electronic
copies of the record that are available to the public. The county
clerk shall comply with the direction within 15 business days after
the date the direction is received. The county clerk's compliance
does not violate any law of this state relating to the preservation,
destruction, or alienation of public records.
(3) A county clerk who receives a request under
Chapter 552, Government Code, for inspection or duplication of a
military discharge record recorded before September 1, 2003, is
only required to search for the record in places where or media in
which the county clerk makes records readily available to the
public for purposes of Section 191.006, such as paper records
stored in the county courthouse or a courthouse annex, microfilmed
or microfiched records stored in the county courthouse or a
courthouse annex, and electronically stored records made available
to the public. This subdivision does not apply to a request made by
the veteran who is the subject of the military discharge record or
the legal guardian of the veteran.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.