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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to information publicly available in an electronic court |
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record database. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 51, Government Code, is |
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amended by adding Section 51.808 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 51.808. INFORMATION PUBLICLY AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC |
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COURT RECORD DATABASE. (a) In this section, "electronic court |
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record database" means a system for storing documents |
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electronically filed with a court in this state that is accessible |
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by the public regardless of whether a fee is charged. |
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(b) A person, including a governmental entity, who |
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establishes, maintains, or operates an electronic court record |
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database may not allow public access to any court document |
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electronically filed with a county court, statutory county court, |
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or district court in this state unless: |
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(1) the clerk of the court enters into a written |
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agreement with the person authorizing public access to the document |
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through the database; and |
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(2) the commissioners court of the county in which the |
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court is located approves the agreement described in Subdivision |
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(1). |
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(c) Notwithstanding Section 22.004 or any other law, the |
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supreme court may not adopt rules in conflict with or inconsistent |
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with this section. To the extent this section conflicts with the |
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Texas Rules of Civil Procedure or any other rule adopted by the |
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supreme court, this section controls. |
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SECTION 2. Section 51.808, Government Code, as added by |
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this Act, applies to a court record filed before, on, or after the |
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effective date of this Act unless a restriction on court records |
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filed before that date would impair a contract entered into before |
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that date. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |