BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center	S.B. 510
85R2891 SMT-F	By: Zaffirini et al.
	Business & Commerce
	2/10/2017
	As Filed

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

The employees of state judges are front-line persons who routinely interact with litigants experiencing crises, including persons with extensive criminal histories and numerous mentally unstable and potentially dangerous persons. This is true for both criminal and civil courts.

 

Ill-intentioned, disgruntled litigants easily may access the home address information of those employees who own property in Texas through public property appraisal records. S.B. 510 would add the employees of state judges to the list of persons allowed to remove their residence address from tax appraisal rolls. This change would allow them to protect their safety and reduce the possibility of disgruntled litigants being able to find out easily where they and their families live.

 

As proposed, S.B. 510 amends current law relating to the confidentiality of certain home address information in ad valorem tax appraisal records.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1. Amends Section 25.025(a), Tax Code, as follows:

 

�(a) Provides that this section (Confidentiality of Certain Home Address Information) applies only to:

 

(1) to (15) Makes no changes to these subdivisions.

 

(16) and (17) Makes nonsubstantive changes.

 

(18) a current or former employee of a state judge.

 

SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2017.