S.B. No. 861
AN ACT
relating to access to birth records under the public information
law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 552.115, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c), (d), and (e) to
read as follows:
(a) A birth or death record maintained by the bureau of
vital statistics of the Texas Department of Health or a local
registration official is excepted from the requirements of Section
552.021, except that:
(1) a birth record is public information and available
to the public on and after the 75th [50th] anniversary of the date
of birth as shown on the record filed with the bureau of vital
statistics or local registration official;
(2) a death record is public information and available
to the public on and after the 25th anniversary of the date of death
as shown on the record filed with the bureau of vital statistics or
local registration official;
(3) a general birth index or a general death index
established or maintained by the bureau of vital statistics or a
local registration official is public information and available to
the public to the extent the index relates to a birth record or
death record that is public information and available to the public
under Subdivision (1) or (2);
(4) a summary birth index or a summary death index
prepared or maintained by the bureau of vital statistics or a local
registration official is public information and available to the
public; and
(5) a birth or death record is available to the chief
executive officer of a home-rule municipality or the officer's
designee if:
(A) the record is used only to identify a
property owner or other person to whom the municipality is required
to give notice when enforcing a state statute or an ordinance;
(B) the municipality has exercised due diligence
in the manner described by Section 54.035(e), Local Government
Code, to identify the person; and
(C) the officer or designee signs a
confidentiality agreement that requires that:
(i) the information not be disclosed
outside the office of the officer or designee, or within the office
for a purpose other than the purpose described by Paragraph (A);
(ii) the information be labeled as
confidential;
(iii) the information be kept securely; and
(iv) the number of copies made of the
information or the notes taken from the information that implicate
the confidential nature of the information be controlled, with all
copies or notes that are not destroyed or returned remaining
confidential and subject to the confidentiality agreement.
(c) Subsection (a)(1) does not apply to the microfilming
agreement entered into by the Genealogical Society of Utah, a
nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of
Utah, and the Archives and Information Services Division of the
Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
(d) For the purposes of fulfilling the terms of the
agreement in Subsection (c), the Genealogical Society of Utah shall
have access to birth records on and after the 50th anniversary of
the date of birth as shown on the record filed with the bureau of
vital statistics or local registration official, but such birth
records shall not be made available to the public until the 75th
anniversary of the date of birth as shown on the record.
SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 191.004, Local
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to birth and death records
maintained under the vital statistics laws of this state as
provided by Title 3, Health and Safety Code [Chapter 41, Acts of the
40th Legislature, 1st Called Session, 1927 (Rules 34a-55a, Article
4477, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)]. The [county clerk shall
allow access to and give attested copies of a birth record on and
after the 50th anniversary of the date on which it is filed and
shall allow access to and give attested copies of a death record on
and after the 25th anniversary of the date on which it is filed.
Before that time, the] county clerk shall allow access to and give
attested copies of those records only as provided by the vital
statistics laws, [and] rules adopted under those laws, and Chapter
552, Government Code.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 861 passed the Senate on
April 3, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 28, 2003, by a
viva-voce vote.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 861 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 23, 2003, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor